


Regency

by SupremeLeaderRen13



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Dubious Consent, Force Bond (Star Wars), Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-01-25 05:28:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12524048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupremeLeaderRen13/pseuds/SupremeLeaderRen13
Summary: In order to maintain a political grip on the galaxy, the First Order has sought out the last living descendant of Emperor Palpatine, a young desert scavenger named Rey, ignorant of her own bloodline. Prescribing to the ancient practice of arranged marriage, General Armitage Hux sends his rumored lover, Kylo Ren, to collect the girl. The Force sensitivity of the two leads to an unexpected complication...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story stemmed from countless amazing fan art pieces, imagines, and headcannons (SO much amazing AU for these ideas). I adore the concept of a Palpatine-descended Rey and never met a Kylux imagine I didn't like. Plus, this gave me the opportunity to play with Force bond theory in a different way.
> 
> In all honesty I also wrote this because it's comforting to write something that isn't what I expect to happen in the canon (the discourse surrounding the trailer has my reylo heart fluttering with anxiety). Enjoy, tell me your thoughts, and may the Force be with you. :)

“You’re sulking, Ren.”   
“I am not.”  
General Armitage Hux was standing in the doorway of his immense bathroom, taking long drags on a deathstick. The mirrored walls of the room reflected his annoyed expression, red hair still wet and dripping onto the black robe he’d meticulously wrapped around himself. The source of his irritation, Kylo Ren, was currently soaking in the room’s huge bathtub. Hux took another drag and watched as Ren’s dark hair dripped onto the black marble where his head leaned over the edge.  
“Yes, you are.” Hux did not like repeating himself, most particularly not to Kylo Ren. He moved to the edge of the bathing pool, tucking a rolled towel underneath the younger man’s neck. “And you’re dripping all over my floor.”  
Kylo didn’t open his eyes, but the deathstick jumped from Hux’s lips into the water. “You know I don’t like those.”  
The general frowned and reached into his pocket, realizing he was out. “Fuck you, Ren. I needed that.”  
“You’re mad because I’m naked in your bathtub, dripping deliciously on your floor, and you feel like you can’t have me today.” Ren opened his brown eyes ever so slightly as he tunneled into Hux’s mind with the Force. “Not fair to your new bride, I see. Which is funny, since I’m the one who has to kriffing marry her tonight, not you.”  
He fought the blush creeping up his neck, hating Ren for being able to do that to him. “See, you are sulking. And yes, as my proxy, that is your responsibility. Should I have chosen someone else? Supreme Leader suggested Mitaka, if you weren’t interested.”   
The boy snorted. “He did not.”  
“I assure you he did.”  
“That is a load of fodder. The point in sending me is that I can protect myself. I’m not as vulnerable as you.” Kylo’s expression puckered into a pout, offended.  
“True, but if you hadn’t agreed to go for me, we thought it better to lose a pawn than a Knight.”  
Kylo slapped a long-fingered hand on the water’s surface. “I hope you have someone else write your speeches, Emperor.”  
Hux glanced at himself in the mirror and smoothed his hair. “Not emperor. Not yet. Not until you bring Lady Palpatine home for me.”   
“Hmm.” Kylo trailed his fingers on the pool’s ledge. Before he could react, he’d knocked Hux’s feet out from under him and pulled him into the water. His head broke the surface to find Ren’s face inches from his own. “Will I be rewarded lavishly for this journey, General?”  
“Kriffing hell, Ren,” Hux groaned as Kylo pulled him onto his lap. “Why are you so insatiable?”  
He rested his head on Hux’s wiry shoulder. “Because I know what I like. And what I don’t like. Which includes bringing home this frigid bitch to your bed and ousting myself.”  
“Come now. Women are at least your first and favorite flavor. I’ve never had the predilection. Imagine being me in a few nights.”  
“I won’t have to.” The boy’s bitterness tinged the words. He fought it with his next sentence. “Imagine my fear as Slane resumes her unrelenting pursuit of me. She’s worse than the resistance.”  
Hux laughed, picturing the high-ranking officer whose taste for powerful men was legendary. She’d recently set Kylo Ren in her sights. “She’s a beautiful woman.”  
“She’s green.”  
“Kylo, I know you were taught to appreciate all species.”  
“Appreciate does not include—“ He shuddered.   
“Pity. So all those escorts that were hired for that party last week…“  
The boy laughed guiltily into Hux’s neck, raising goosebumps there. “Okay, so I’m not entirely opposed.”  
“You’re disgusting.”  
“Now who’s sulking?” Hux frowned, caught in his own trap. He pushed off Ren’s lap and waded to the other side of the pool. The knight followed him lazily. “Hux, have I ever left you unattended?”  
He sighed. “Get on your knees, Lord Ren.”  
“Isn’t that my line?” Hux rolled his eyes, and pushed on Kylo’s shoulders. Though physically stronger by far, Ren obliged and Hux felt that stirring of pleasure and power that came from mastering something so volatile. Kylo laughed with his mouth closed, listening to his thoughts.  
“Shut up,” Hux said, working shampoo through the boy’s thick hair. Disappointed, Kylo initially held himself stiffly upright, but soon his head lolled backwards into Hux’s hands. He made some sort of contented growling noise.  
“What do you think she’s like?”  
The question surprised him, and he raked his fingernails over Ren’s scalp before answering. “I don’t know, really. Uncivilized, I’m sure, judging by where they found her. Jakku.” He said the name with distaste. “Took them years to find her when they realized Palpatine may have had a lover. No one could believe it.”  
“It’s interesting,” Kylo murmured. “She’s strong with the Force.”  
Hux’s fingers stopped their careful combing of Ren’s hair. “You can sense that?”  
“Of course.” He smiled ruefully. “If she’s no use to you, she might be to me. Of course, that’s up to the Supreme Leader.”  
“In that case, it’s already done, you spoiled prince. New ship? Vader’s castle? Hux’s wife? All yours, my precious apprentice.”   
Kylo laughed and ducked under the water. “I wish I could explain to you what I have done to gain all that,” he said as he surfaced.  
“Please don’t.” Ren’s powers annoyed Hux on a good day and terrified him on a bad one. The taller man snaked his arms around Hux’s waist, pulling on the belt of his robe.   
“I like how this feels in the water.” He nosed Hux’s ear, making him groan.   
“Okay, okay! Only because you’re sulking.” Kylo grinned and bit down on Hux’s neck, pulling them into deeper water.


	2. Chapter 2

“…so happy to host you on the behalf of the Supreme Leader, Lord Ren. A most high honor.” Kylo was being lead through a series of corridors onboard an ancient Star Destroyer by an extremely irritating, pompous officer. Afraid of losing the precious discovery of Palpatine’s remaining bloodline, the First Order had ensconced the woman in this unassuming ship on Crait, hidden from the general population. Very few people had been in contact with her. Bored of the officer’s mindless prattle, Kylo let his mind wander to the heir. Was she happy, overwhelmed? Or angry for the life they had stolen from her? He knew something about that type of anger, of shouldering the unwanted family mantle.  
The officer stopped in front of an impressive set of double doors and pressed the com panel. “My lady? General Hux’s proxy has arrived.” Kylo ground his teeth behind his mask, disliking the identification.   
The reply was quick and succinct. “Send him in. Alone.” An aristocratic, lilting voice. How strange. The officer glanced uneasily at Kylo, plainly displaying his distrust.  
“Well…” He gestured to the doors as they opened. Kylo stepped through the entrance without a backward glance, lowering his hood. The woman—no, the girl—was so tiny that he almost glanced over her where she sat, reclined on a couch that had belonged to some long-forgotten Moff. No, not tiny exactly…she had the same kind of wiry, refined build that Hux did. Stronger than she looked, then.  
There was nothing of the Emperor’s supposed horror in her pale, freckled face. She had dark hair which she pulled back into tri-buns that someone (he really doubted this had been her choice) had knotted with red silk. Instead of robes, she wore a dark grey flight suit that she’d unzipped to her collarbone. She appraised him with distrusting hazel eyes.  
“Great. Another creature in a mask to take me away.” Her eyes slid from his viewscreen down to his belt where his lightsaber was holstered and back up again. Kylo fought the urge to step out of her glare. “But this one is the famous Jedi Killer—or so I hear.” She turned back to the holo she had been watching.   
So she was angry, then. Good. He knew that feeling better than anyone. Quietly, he pressed the release on his helmet, pulling it off. The girl turned to him slightly, and then did a double take.   
“A boy after all.” She bit her lip and tilted her head, still studying him. “Strange.”  
“Strange?”   
“They say that Darth Vader was more machine than man. I thought to expect the same from you.” She looked away and then back at him again. “Would you sit down? You’re making me uncomfortable.”  
He lowered himself onto the couch next to her. For some reason he couldn’t quite define, the girl unsettled him. The lack of fear, maybe, or the obvious disdain. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. “You’re from Jakku,” he tried.  
Her eyebrow ascended several centimeters. “Yes. Glad to see you can read like everyone else.”  
Oh, she irked him. “Oh, yes. A scavenger and a slave in all but name.” There.  
“And what are you, Kylo Ren?” His eyes followed her lips as she spoke his name.   
“A master.” He leaned towards her, intoxicated with this verbal volley.   
“Yes, so I hear, Master of the Knights of Ren. But there is someone greater than you.”  
For a dreadful moment, he thought she spoke of his family, of kriffing Skywalker. Instead she said: “Your Supreme Leader has been very kind to me. More enlightening than some of the others.”  
He blinked. Snoke had not mentioned this to him. “The Supreme Leader is wise.”  
She laughed at him. “Your master is wise, you mean. You and I, Kylo Ren, slaves in all but name.”  
Something snarled in his chest. “We both have great power, Scavenger.”  
“Calm down, Jedi Killer.” She poked him in the chest. “I can feel it coming off of you.”  
“What?”  
“The same thing you can feel from me. Power…and fear. You’re lonely too.” He gaped at this strange girl, so much stronger with the Force than he’d anticipated. She leapt neatly to her feet. “Well, let’s get ready for this.”  
“For?”  
She rolled her eyes. “Our fake marriage, proxy.”  
“Ah. Yes. They want it legitimate in case—“  
“In case we get shot down by resistance on our way back? So your friend can take the throne with a legitimate lie? Assuming we look past the Galactic Concordance.” She was grinning again.  
“Well…yes.” He was disconcerted by this woman. The Force felt heavy around them.  
“Okay.” She tapped something on the holo.  
“Okay? Why are you doing this?” He wasn’t sure where the inappropriate question came from.  
She paused for a minute, looked down. “I never knew my family or the Force. I guess I’m looking for a bit of both. Answers. What about you, Ben?”  
He stood up, almost falling over in his haste to get away from her. “What did you—how—did you take that from my head?”  
Lady Palpatine’s brows contracted. “You…you gave it to me. I told you mine too.”  
The denial was on the tip of his tongue when he realized he did know her name. “Rey,” he whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

“Are you not going to tell me what she’s like?” Hux’s voice had a hard edge to it, unnerved by Kylo’s silence. He was sitting at his desk in his private office, watching his lover kneel through a holo screen. He smacked his hand on the table. “Kylo!”  
The boy’s head jerked up, as though he’d only just heard him. His dark hair had been braided back off his face and artfully threaded with gold wire. Someone had wound that same wire around his neck all the way to his chin, which had been powdered white like the rest of his face. A vertical streak of red paint split his lips and chin into perfect symmetry. Something dark had been smudged under and around his eyes, bringing them out in sharp contrast to the rest of his face. Hux gently chewed his bottom lip, studying the heavy, rich dark robes Kylo had gathered around him.  
“Wow. They really dressed you for the part of the bridegroom.”   
Coming to himself, Kylo managed to glower at him. “It would seem that the girl and I both have roots in Naboo. They’re playing into that.”  
“Ah.” Hux looked at Kylo, feeling something twist inside him. What he wouldn’t give to have Ren come to him like that, that this would be their marriage. It would have been just as well. Kylo was royalty in his own right, grandson of a queen and son of a princess. The grandson of Darth Vader…why not?  
Maybe because you knew he wouldn’t agree to it, a small, truthful voice inside him needled. Because he doesn’t need you like you need him.   
Hux shook off the thought. “Did you say girl?”  
“Yes, Hux. She’s younger than me. I doubt she’s crested 20.”  
He cringed and Kylo nodded. Hux was 34 to Kylo’s 29 years, and felt vastly older than him at times. Now they would have to contend with a girl barely out of her teens…  
“She’s interesting.” Ren was looking away from the screen again, frowning.  
“How so?” Hux’s hands were shaking and he pawed through his jacket pockets to no avail. “Damn it, Kylo, where are my---“  
“Second desk drawer on the left,” Kylo answered glumly. Hux glared viciously as his hand closed over the pack of deathsticks. He lit one and inhaled deeply.  
“You are the bane of my fucking existence.”  
“The feeling is mutual.” Kylo sucked in his cheeks. “She’s strong with the Force, Hux. And smart.”  
“How so?” At least she wasn’t an idiot.  
“Stronger and smarter than you want her to be, believe me.”  
Hux narrowed his eyes, studying Kylo. “She did something to you, didn’t she?”  
“Of course not.” He paused, bouncing his leg up and down. “Maybe.” He turned as someone called to him offscreen. “I have to go.” The screen went black.


	4. Chapter 4

“You look like you’re marching to your own execution.” Lady Palpatine—Rey—was grinning at his miserable expression as they stood side by side near the doors of the old ship’s observation bridge. Kylo scowled at her, resisting the urge to hunch his shoulders. It hadn’t escaped him the girl was radiant with happiness right now, and it wasn’t over her faux wedding.  
It was that she’d found someone like her.  
She grasped his gloved hand. “Are you always this likable, Kylo Ren?” He noted her careful use of his title after his reaction to her casual use of his given name. Her mouth, made up red in the center like his, twisted shrewdly. “The Jedi don’t condone marriage.”  
The question irritated him. “I am not a Jedi.”  
“No,” she allowed. “But you were once, weren’t you?”  
He stretched his fingers in hers. “Will you stop doing that?”  
“Why? You threw yourself into my head as soon as you walked in my rooms. It’s rude.”  
Kylo sighed. “Do you always talk this much?”  
For the first time, the girl’s face faltered. “No. I haven’t talked to anyone for weeks, really, unless you’re counting service droids.” Damn. Hux and his master would be angry if he brought the girl back like this. It was part of the reason they’d considered others for this proxy mission. The resistance would no doubt be reaching out to her almost immediately, and they needed her to believe in what they were doing here.  
He huffed again and answered her earlier question. “No, the Jedi do not condone marriage.”  
“Yet here we are.” He blinked at her for a solid three seconds before realizing what she meant.  
“Strength with the Force isn’t always passed biologically. Sometimes it just…manifests.”  
“But not in our case, right?” She winked at him and readjusted her heavy red robes. So she did know about his family, however vaguely. Her eyes drifted over his similar adornments. “So, Naboo, huh? Have you ever been there?”  
Kylo thought of his time on the lush planet, how he’d knelt and brushed the dust from the balcony where his grandparents had married. He almost smiled. “It’s beautiful. You should go sometime.”  
“Would you take me?”  
“I—“  
He was spared answering her question by the reappearance of the corporal from earlier. “Everything is ready, Lord Ren. If you will.”  
Kylo took Rey’s arm in his, and she stepped smartly beside him, no nerves showing on her delicately made up face. And why should she be nervous? This was all an elaborate game, a piece of propaganda at its core. He detested politics, but here he was. For his master. For Hux. For some reason, this irritated him more than it normally would have.  
They were met by another uniformed official at the center of the bridge, where they turned to face each other. Rey smiled secretively at one of the floating holocams, making him frown. She was much better at this than she’d originally let on. The official cleared his throat and Kylo slowly removed his long glove from his right hand, lying it on the table behind him. The girl did the same with her left. As the official began the same speech that had been given to millions before them, Rey and Kylo grasped each other’s forearm.  
It took everything he had not to immediately release her, the official’s voice fading to a dim buzzing in the background. Like lightening snaking up his arm, he felt a flash of heat that went directly to his core. The darkness within him cringed away from her light, so much pure, radiant light. Despite the sudden repulsion, there was also an aching possessiveness, the startling recognition of finding something made purely for you.  
“I will,” Rey said in response to a vow he’d missed. He searched her face for any sign that she was experiencing the same confusing blend of sensation he was. Looking beyond him, her eyes narrowed slightly as she concentrated. Kylo realized her Force signature was pressing on his in a blatant attempt to make it bow to her own. He shoved back, a defensive reaction, barely catching his cue.  
“I will.”  
The official turned them to face forward and Kylo ducked his head in the glare of the lights. He jammed his fingers back into his glove as she took his left arm again. The official finished the ceremony.  
“For the power and the glory of the First Order, and a galaxy at peace.”  
***

He followed her back to her rooms, where they were supposed to be preparing to leave. As soon as her door had closed behind him, he shrugged off the ridiculous robes and lunged for her, pinning her against the wall. In his fear he was overzealous and her head snapped back.  
“Would you mind explaining what the kriffing hell that was out there?”  
A hint of flush crept up through her white face paint. “Come closer and I’ll tell you.”  
Kylo leaned in, eyebrows raised. Her lips parted and then, without warning, she head-butted him with all her strength. He released her, snarling and spitting blood.  
Rey smiled. “There. Now that we’ve established that you do not touch me without my express permission, let’s talk, Ben.” He didn’t respond, just swallowed another mouthful of blood, seething. “I didn’t do anything to you out there, not on purpose. I assume that you actually know more about what it is than I do, and you’re just hoping for another answer. So tell me, Jedi Killer—what’s got you so scared?”  
He pulled on the uncomfortable wire collar that had been wound around his neck. “A Force bond,” he finally answered, almost to himself.  
“Come again?”  
“A connection forged by the Force between two individuals. Which would explain how you go into my head so easily.” He glared at her. “But does not explain why I could feel you pressing on my signature for power.”  
“I was just defending myself. Your nature is possessive and aggressive. I can almost see it around you—“ She waived her hands in the air in front of her. “Red. So much of it.”  
“Hmm.” He tugged again on the wire, thinking. “I’ll have to speak to my master about it. I’ve only ever read about these bonds, and they’re extremely rare.” Frustrated, he yanked on the collar.  
“Stop it before you decapitate yourself and I get left here again.” She pushed him into a chair so she could reach his neck and started unwinding the collar with deft fingers. “It’s funny,” she said conversationally, abruptly switching tone. “I can feel you as much as I hear you.”  
“I know.” He mopped his face on his sleeve, smearing the paint on his armguard. Rey dropped the coil of gold wire into his lap and jumped up to sit on the back of the couch. She tapped his braids.  
“Do you want this out too?” He nodded and her fingers moved to his hair, gently unraveling the intricate knots. Thin pieces of the same gold wire rained around as the girl pulled them from the ends of his hair. Kylo thought of Hux and the bathing pool and shuddered when the girl’s fingertips grazed the nape of his neck, setting off more of that heat lightening he’d felt when he grabbed her hand.  
“You don’t like me.” She sounded regretful.  
“I don’t like people in the general sense,” he groused, still catching pieces of wire.  
“Except my husband, I see. No, not exactly…there’s rivalry there, but you like it. It excites you.” She was reaching into his head again, searching for something. “You like to prove yourself.” Her hands moved to the top of his head, tugging gently.  
Kylo closed his eyes. “Out of my head, desert rat.”  
“Your empress now.”  
“Out of my head, empress scavenger.” She gave one painful tug on the top of his head and all of his hair fell loose. “Unnecessary.”  
“You’re done.” She slid off the back of the couch and headed towards the refresher. “It’s a shame. It would have been nice to have a friend.”  
He lifted his head. “What makes you think I’m not your friend?”  
“You don’t have friends, Kylo Ren.” She smiled ruefully. “You’re a slave to your own darkness. Wash your face, put the mask back on—it’ll help you pretend to be what you want. Inhuman.”  
Her signature pressed in around him again, both attractive and repulsive, making him fight the psychotic urge to kiss her and strike her down. “And what do you want, Scavenger?”  
“Now?” Her smile grew wide and wicked, and he knew she’d read his thoughts. “To be stronger than you.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! Sorry for the incredibly long delay on this; I've been working a lot on my long reylo story, as I'm trying to have it finished before the movie (17 days, woohoo)! Anyway, forgive my sin but I'm playing with the alpha/beta/omega dynamic in this one, which I find absolutely fascinating. I'm not concerned with the biology of it, but the instinct concept is super cool to me. Now that you've been warned--enjoy!

“You should really consider a new security detail, emperor.” Hux’s eyes shot open, blind in the darkness of the standard night. He reached for his blaster, only to have someone press their knee onto his bicep and a gloved hand over his mouth. “Are you going to shoot me, Hux?”  
“Damn it, Ren!” Hux sat up violently, dumping the knight off his chest. “One day I will shoot you, and I’ll have to really struggle to feel badly about it.” He smacked the controls on his headboard until dim lights began to glow around them. Kylo was grinning wolfishly on the left side of his comforter, removing his armguards.  
“Wouldn’t you miss me?” His voice was mocking.  
Hux’s eyes roved over the scarred, white bicep Ren was exposing. “Maybe just a little.” He rolled over and straddled Kylo, pinning the man’s long arms over his head. He cocked his head to the side, considering. “Weren’t you supposed to bring me my wife?” With his left hand, he reached behind his back and trailed up Kylo’s thigh. “You don’t feel like a woman.”  
Kylo groaned and bucked his hips, jostling the older man. “She’s here. I just dropped her off to her rooms.”  
“And you came straight here off the ship? Ren, I’m touched.”  
“Well, it was here or to Slane…”   
Hux chuckled and slapped Ren across the face. “I’m sure it was, you slut.”  
Kylo cracked his jaw, his dark eyes lighting up with a ferocious intensity. He lifted Hux off his body with the Force, pressing his back against the bed. The boy climbed on top of him almost lazily, pinning him with the power Hux could feel permeating the room.  
“Did you feel brave doing that, General?” He slid his leather-clad hand down Hux’s face, forcing his thumb into his mouth and hooking his cheek. Kylo pulled his thumb sharply to the right, making the general to turn his head like some absurd animal. “You don’t feel very brave now.” Hux bit down on Kylo’s thumb, making him laugh. “So cruel, Armitage!”  
Kylo did not relinquish his unyielding Force hold on him, choosing instead to dip low and attack his neck with his tongue and teeth. Hux had the distinct feeling that he was being devoured by a ravenous—no, a starving man. What in all the galaxies had awakened this hunger in him? Ren’s head dipped below his stomach and Hux groaned, twisting his fingers in the boy’s dark hair.  
Ren’s comlink lit up on his wrist, splaying its blue light over Hux’s stomach. He glanced down at it casually, then grasped Ren’s arm to better read the screen. “You’re being summoned.”  
He ignored him, irritably jerking his wrist out of Hux’s hands to detach the comlink and throw it across the room. Hux was not deterred. “It was her.”  
Ren huffed and rolled away from him, completely releasing his hold on Hux’s body. “I know who it was.”  
“And why would she be calling you in the middle of the standard night? I’m pretty certain she was assigned attendant droids and—“  
Someone knocked on the door and both of their heads turned towards it. Hux was incredulous. “Surely she does not think I’m going to—“  
Kylo was already rolling of the bed in apparent resignation. “If you don’t let her in, she’ll come in on her own, General. Believe me.” There was some kind of grudging admiration in his voice. Hux readjusted his clothes and pulled himself into a sitting position, completely bemused.   
Ren tapped the door panel with his long fingers and it slid open to reveal the girl, leaning against the frame. One of the astromech droids, a black BB unit, rested docile at her feet. She surveyed Kylo’s loose clothes and rumpled hair with annoyed interest.   
“Lord Ren. When you didn’t answer my message I assumed I could find you with yet something else that doesn’t belong to you. And I was right.” She leaned around Kylo to make eye contact with Hux. “General Hux. It’s nice to finally meet you.”  
“Likewise.” Hux was pleasantly surprised, absolutely enchanted by this desert storm of a woman who challenged his Kylo. He rested his chin on his fist. “Come in.”  
The girl took pains to shoulder Kylo in the chest as she shoved into the room and Hux smiled wider. What was more perplexing than her behavior was that Ren let her do it. She strode to him confidently, the little droid beeping in her wake. To his complete shock, she plopped onto his bed, sitting cross-legged in front of him. Her hazel eyes, which seemed to take up more than their fair share of her wide, honest face, scrutinized him. “I’m Rey.”  
Hux had the horrible feeling that she could see into his head. The bed descended several inches as Ren resumed his usual place beside him. Her eyes flickered towards him with the same inexplicable irritation and deference the Enforcer seemed to have for her. He took her hand and smiled. “Rey. I’m so happy you’re here now.”  
“Are you?” The girl grinned at him, disarming in her charm. “Lord Ren is not.” Beside him, Ren made an obscene gesture not usually seen this many levels up. She laughed. “What is it, have you bitten him already?”  
Hux froze, rounding on Kylo with anger that seemed to coat every inch of his skin. “You told her?” No one, no one knew, save Ren and a doctor he paid very well to keep quiet.  
Kylo rolled his eyes. “Of course not. It’s easier to sense through the Force.”  
“I can smell it on you,” she offered helpfully. “I’m astonished that an omega has made it to your age without being claimed.” She smiled wickedly, feeling Ren’s growing displeasure. “Yet.”  
“Watch yourself, scavenger.” Kylo was tense and pressing into Hux’s left side, instinct, Hux knew, telling him to protect the omega while another alpha was present. Rey rolled her eyes.  
“I’m not like you, Kylo Ren. I don’t take without asking.” She turned her attention back to Hux and pressed her lips to their clasped fingers. “Although maybe we’ll get there, Emperor?”   
He flushed and breathed deeply. Yes, now that she’d pointed it out, he could smell the heady, spicy scent that emanated from all alphas on her skin. He’d once asked Kylo what omega scent was like. Ren had pressed his nose to the back of Hux’s neck, where a mating bite would go, breathing deeply.  
“Sweet.” Another breath. “Fragile. Warm.” He’d left Hux then, hand pressed over his mouth.   
He’d left for two weeks that time.  
The memory was enough to stir his anger with Ren back to the surface. He smiled at Rey, sensing her cunning. “Yes, I think so, wife.” The word didn’t seem as unnatural as he’d expected.  
Ren growled. “Oh, please,” he spat. “I’m his alpha. If he whelps, it’ll be mine.”  
“Kylo!” Hux cringed. He’d taken great pains over the course of his life to make sure that never, ever happened…  
“We’ll see.” Rey rose from the end of the bed, still smiling in that strangely satisfied manner. “General—sorry, Emperor—it was good to meet you. It will make our official greeting tomorrow so much less awkward.” She pressed her hand to his cheek. “You look like a king.” She was in his head, he was sure of it. “Your secret is safe with me.”  
“I’ll see you tomorrow too, Lord Ren.” She put too much emphasis on the title, mocking him, going so far as to lean over and mime kissing his feet. Ren hissed and kicked at her, and she dodged it laughing. “The Supreme Leader is eager to have you begin training me.” The little droid rolled back to her feet as she stood. “Until tomorrow then.”


	6. Chapter 6

Kylo really hated Coruscant.  
He had never quite gotten over the claustrophobic sense of the lower levels, knowing that you were trapped underneath thousands of people going about their lives above you. Of course, he didn’t spend much time on the lower levels anymore, and certainly not tonight. They were in an elite part of the district high above most others, although windowless. He surveyed the room with disdain, spinning his full glass idly in his fingers.  
They had long since left the elaborate ceremony that introduced the galaxy to Emperor Hux—Kylo fought the urge to roll his eyes. Having dispensed with the older officials hours earlier, anyone who had not yet reached his or her ancient years and still managed to shirk duty was here. The floor of the club shook with the force of hundreds of people dancing in various state of inebriation. Lights strobed down from above, coating the club patrons in odd shadows.  
“Why do you even come if all you do is skulk in the corner?” Phasma had appeared next to him, clutching a glass full of some sort of clear liquid. As always, it was a shock to see her without her armor, to realize there was a human being in there. Then again, he could say the same about himself.  
“I’m babysitting.” His eyes were trained on the dark alcove where Hux currently sat, surrounded by no less than fifteen people. Five alphas, maybe six total in the entire room. He couldn’t tell from this distance. Most people were the usual betas. Nothing threatening there.  
Phasma looked at him knowingly, shoving her short blonde hair out of her face. “As someone who has been around him since Brendol Hux scraped me off my home world, I can tell you with certainty that you are not babysitting right now.” She raised her glass. “To you, Lord Ren.”   
“Not to my health, surely.”  
She laughed. “Oh, definitely not. To the best life we can live before we are impaled on our own swords. And the glory of the First Order, of course.”  
Despite himself, he cracked a smile at the treasonous words. “In that case, here’s to you Captain.” He threw back the glass of Corellian whiskey, savoring the burning warmth as it spread through his chest. Phasma smacked her hand on the bar behind them, and the serving droid immediately slid two more drinks their way. They were midway through a fourth when Phasma jerked her chin towards the dance floor.  
“She’s different.” Kylo followed her gaze to the center of the crowd, where Rey was twirling in a circle, arms in the air. People hovered around her, seemingly afraid to touch her but too desperate for her attention to move away. She leaned in to hear something one of her companions said and laughed. His eyes slid down her slim body to her hips, which she swung in time to the obnoxious music that thumped through the place. He immediately upended his drink, finishing it off.  
“She is,” he murmured. Tentatively, he tugged on the connection between them. She turned to him questioningly, and then a slow smile spread across her face. He held her stare for a second more until she turned back to the crowd around her. For some reason, he really wanted to crush the glass in his fist.  
“Rumor has it that she also has an aptitude for your particular…talents.” Phasma was treading carefully around this subject. While she didn’t hold the disdain for the Force that Hux had, she had grown up with stories of an Empire unfriendly towards the Jedi and little more than myth and legend surrounding the Force itself.   
Relaxed by the whiskey and the hazy opiate smoke in the room, he nodded slowly. “Yes, she does. More strongly than she knows, I think.”   
Phasma leaned forward, pressing her weight onto her toes, constantly in battle stance. “Stronger than Vosca Ren?”   
This was a leading question, and Kylo knew it. It even broke briefly through the intoxicant-induced haze. “That’s for the Supreme Leader and me to decide. Vosca is…formidable.”   
“Though not too frightening for you, was she, Ren?” A humanoid male stumbled in front of them and collapsed on the floor. Just as quickly, a droid scurried over to scoop him up and carried him away. Kylo waited until the crowd had moved their attention back to the dance floor before answering.  
“Vosca and I…” A terrible thought occurred to him. “You’ve told Hux.”  
Phasma scoffed at him. “Oh, please. I have enough of your tantrums without adding his to the mix. Although I’m stunned he hasn’t heard the rumors yet on his own.” They both looked towards the alcove again. Hux, flushed and bright-eyed, leaned over the gambling table, looking anxious. The numbers must have settled favorably, because a roar rose up from those around him and someone clapped him on the back.  
“I didn’t realize that anyone knew,” Kylo said. Phasma pushed another drink into his hand and he drank deeply, unaffected by the burn of the alcohol. In the seconds it took him to swallow, ice crystals seemed to creep up his throat. He coughed. “This is a—“  
“Flameout.” Phasma smiled and smacked her lips, clutching her own glass. “You’ve had it before?”  
“Yes. I knew someone who really liked them.” He swilled the contents of the glass, thinking about how often his fath—Han Solo had indulged in the very same drink.   
“Some smuggler turned barkeep we had one of the bases introduced us to it. I like them.” Kylo was staring into the depths of his. Maybe he could leave without being noticed, slip out. Phasma would cover for him, it wouldn’t be the first time…his scattered train of thought was interrupted by the new arrival to his right. Phasma stopped short. “Lady Palpatine. Many congratulations.”  
“Appreciated,” Rey said, winking. “Why aren’t you out here with the rest of us, Captain?” The girl’s dark hair was starting to fall out of the tri-buns she favored, and several pieces stuck to her sweaty neck. Whatever ceremonial garb she’d had on earlier had long been discarded—she was now down to the slim fitting tunic and pants combo most people wore under their regular uniforms. Kylo tossed back the rest of his drink, shifting away.  
Phasma grinned. “I’m here to keep an eye on things, Lady. No dancing for me.”  
“That’s silly. You’re a close friend of my husband’s, I’m sure he wants you out there. Then again, Lord Ren is here, and we know how close you two are.” She batted her eyelashes innocently, the tiniest hint of smirk playing around her lips. Kylo glowered at her. Phasma snorted into her drink.  
The music picked up, increasing tempo. “I’m going back. Feel free to join me!” The girl backed onto the floor before being swallowed up by the crowd. Phasma was still laughing to herself.  
“She’s got your measure, Lord Ren.” She followed his gaze to where Rey was again jumping in the middle of the dance floor. “Oh, for kriff’s sake, go to her. Do something fun for once. I’m sure you’re new emperor will pardon you sometime during the night.” Phasma prodded him in the back. “See if she’s really better than Vosca.” With that, she gave him a push right onto the dance floor.  
***  
Rey loved the dancing, the noise, the energy—absolutely everything about Coruscant. After her weeks being hidden away by the First Order, she’d begun to dread that her time with them would be an endless parade of grim officers, faceless stormtroopers, and protocol droids. She’d even started to long for Jakku, where there was, at the very least, always someone to butt heads with. When Hux had whispered in her ear his evening plans, asking if she wanted to go, she’d nearly jumped out of her skin with affirmation. Coruscant seemed magical to her—a planet of cities!  
Her new husband had been either kind or nervous enough to leave her to her own devices once they’d arrived. After the first few drinks, names and faces melded together into a pleasant blur. She’d not had much experience with alcohol before this, and it was showing. The boy to her left was some sort of lieutenant and had spent the night introducing her to people whose names she instantly forgot. It didn’t matter in the end—everyone was there to party.  
Rey raised her arms over her head again, trying to copy the movements of the people around her, laughing. Someone snaked their arms around her waist and pressed into her. Even with her senses dulled by the intoxication, the Force was not. Kylo Ren’s red aura enveloped her, overcoming her own light. The people around them took an unconscious step back, as though a shark had entered the group. She allowed it, only to avoid acknowledging him, which she knew was what he desperately wanted.   
She didn’t break step in the dance, forcing him to either keep up or let go. To her surprise he moved well, naturally, and kept pace with her body and the thumping music. A few of the braver souls in the group closed in around them, free of the initial shock of having the Enforcer in their midst. Without thinking about it, she reached behind her and ran her hands up the knight’s neck and into his hair. That crackling energy that had passed between them at the proxy ceremony lit up her hands and made her gasp.  
Kylo ducked his head to whisper in her ear. “Something wrong, desert rat?” His gloved hand slid slowly away from her waist and up her ribs. She could feel his teeth grazing her ear and almost whined, breathing in his scent deeply. Sweat, something earthy and familiar—leather maybe, and that spicy, heady smell that overwhelmed the others. Alpha scent.  
“Oh.” The word escaped her lips as she realized what he was doing. She had half decided to Force throw him through the wall, but thought better of it. If he was going to play the “who’s the stronger alpha” game, she would win. Using the hand still worked into his hair, she grasped and wrenched his head down to press her mouth to his.  
He must have realized what she was doing, because he tried to resist her at first, pulling back ever so slightly. Rey almost laughed and ruined everything when it only took the slightest brush of her tongue against his lips to get him to completely break down and open to her. His aura pushed in on hers again, and she pushed back hard, wrapping her legs around his waist. He staggered off the floor, pushing her up against the wall.  
One of the women around them gave a nervous giggle as the Enforcer and the Empress moved off the dance floor, Kylo Ren half carrying the girl. “Is that…um…are they alright?”  
The ensign behind her laughed. “They look like they feel just fine to me.”  
“I don’t know. Looks pretty aggressive.”  
“Right, but the emperor—“  
“Oh, please.” This from a stormtrooper who had snuck out, off duty. “Everyone knows they’re lovers.”  
“Then isn’t this double the insult?” They all turned to the alcove where Emperor Hux sat. He was watching the two of them intensely, a smile playing on his face.  
The ensign shrugged. “He looks pretty happy to me. Another round?”  
***  
Hux was happy. He was relaxed in the velvet sofas the trashy club kept for their best customers, nursing lazily at the drink in his hand. The men who had overnight become his subordinates were slumped around them in various states of intoxication. At this point in the night, many of them were all but dozing where they sat. Captain Phasma, regal and haughty as usual, threw herself into the seat beside him. She was also watching his wife and Ren.  
“You know, I told him to have fun, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t specify to these extremes.” Her tone was carefully uninterested. “Should I break it up before he kills her?”  
He smiled peacefully. “You might find you have to save him from her in the end. They’re not hurting anyone.”  
“Yet,” Phasma amended. “Can I look forward to losing a few of my men who happen to be so unlucky as to pass by Ren’s quarters after one of your quarrels?”  
Hux restrained himself from rolling his eyes with great difficulty. It was true, Ren had accidentally (that was a stretch) killed the last two stormtroopers that got in his way. Irritating and wasteful, perhaps, but exactly what was to be expected from an overgrown child. “I’ve kept him well reigned in lately.” He leaned forward to get a better view of the two as they pushed and pulled at each other. The girl was, if anything, even wilder than Kylo. A desert storm and a hurricane.   
“Ah.” Phasma seemed to grasp what was going on. “They’re fighting over—“  
“That is too forward, Captain.” He sipped his drink again.   
Phasma, having been more or less adopted and trained by his own father, knew or suspected more about Hux’s omega status than she dared to voice. She was right, of course. He’d watched Kylo perform this sort of dance so many times, any time another alpha was interested in Hux. All he needed to do, he’d told Hux after one nasty fight, was turn them off his scent. "By fucking them", Hux had spat moodily. Kylo had looked at him like he was being unreasonable. He was right, Hux knew. Once the scent of an omega had been caught, the only thing that could put an alpha off rut was another alpha.  
His friend cleared her throat awkwardly. “I guess it’s not like you haven’t been busy.” Hux glanced down at the sleeping ensign in his lap, whose hair he’d been idly brushing back with his fingers. He looked so young. “Still, though. Does it look well to let them get away with all that?” She gestured toward the two of them.  
“I’m glad you bring that up, my friend. When we get back to base, I want you to kill every person here who ranks below lieutenant.” His tone was light, as casual as a reminder to turn off a light.  
“Sir?” Phasma looked disturbed, although she’d never voice it.  
“Security can be so hard to hold onto. Don’t want anyone to think our grip is slipping, within or without.” Hux smiled nastily. “For the power and the glory of the First Order.”  
“Do you want me to start with him?” She gestured to the boy in his lap, who had kissed him so sweetly earlier, as though afraid to. Damn.   
“No, leave him. The others disappearing should be enough to keep him quiet.” He slid the ensign off his lap and onto the couch and rose. “That’s all, Captain. Thank you.”  
Phasma looked up at him, a little impressed. “As you wish…emperor.” She stood and started jostling the people around them, urging them to take the next jumper home. Hux left her to it.  
Rey and Kylo were still wrapped just as tightly around each other as when he’d started watching them. Hux tapped Kylo on the back. “If you’re not going to kill each other, I’d like to go home,” he drawled. The broke apart, Rey looking sheepish and Kylo, if anything, defiant. Hux took a deep breath and almost shuddered at the power emanating from both of them. Oh, yes. This was going to work to his advantage.  
“Then let’s go.” Kylo turned away from both of them and marched towards the exit. Hux extended a hand to Rey and she took it.  
“Let’s go home.”


	7. Chapter 7

The ride back to Mustafar was full of stony silence, but Rey enjoyed it all the same. She drank in as much of the whirling lights of Coruscant as she could before they made the jump into hyperspace. Armitage had settled himself between Kylo and herself, and probably for good reason. There was a chill rolling off the knight that Rey was beginning to understand preluded one of his ‘moods’, as she’d begun to call them in her head. Apparently hearing this thought, Kylo turned around to throw a filthy look in her direction. She returned it with interest.  
“Kylo.” Hux said the name was a sharp tilt, like someone cracking a whip. It was an intimate way of being angry with someone, knowing without looking what they do and think. For a brief moment, Rey felt left out. The younger man turned his entire body towards the viewport and crossed his arms, looking away from them.   
“It’s my home. I’ll have who I want there.”   
Hux rolled his eyes and took Rey’s hand. “Yes, we are all well aware, princeling.” Another inside jab that smacked of a closeness. “Remember you would have none of this without Supreme Leader’s blessing.”  
Kylo turned around to retort and Rey cut him off. “Sorry, but where are we going?”  
The emperor thumbed through a report on his datapad. “Home, assuming Ren decides to use his manners and share.”   
Rey turned her eyes on Ren. He jerked his head irritably and answered. “It’s my grandfather’s home on Mustafar. Given to him by his master.”  
She gaped openly as the ship descended, taking in the massive fortress. “Are these volcanoes active?” The ship landed and the two of them followed Hux, still deep in his report, across the deck.  
“Some of them.” The abyss beneath the landing dock seemed to bubble and surge, giving off extreme heat. Rey mopped at her face and swayed slightly, the alcohol in her system making her unsteady. Kylo caught her arm more gently than she would have expected. “You get used to it,” he said.  
“Rey.” Hux, pocketing his datapad, extended his hand again. “Do you want to come with me?”  
She dithered only for a moment before accepting his hand. “Yes, okay.” Kylo released her arm and followed them, tapping on his comlink. Rey had an immediate impression of darkness, not just in the roughhewn walls of the palace, but from within it. The Force concentrated here was dangerous and exciting. Tomorrow, she would explore what was calling to her. But tonight…  
“Goodnight.” Kylo did not slow down as he passed them, leaving Rey and Hux standing in front of an ornate set of doors. Hux pushed on the center and they swung inwards, revealing the lavish room within.   
Her first impression was of the First Order ship quarters they’d been staying in, a lot of black and no clutter. But as her eyes adjusted, she could see the subtle differences. Books and datapads tossed in a corner. Furniture composed of older materials, watermarks on the table. The bed had to be twice the standard size and covered, not in the scratchy standard blankets she’d grown used to, but in something much more natural and softer. And underneath that—she slid her hand underneath the pillows—silk.   
“Do you like it?” Hux was watching her from a safe distance away. She wondered if she frightened him. Her eyes traveled to the next set of doors, through which she could see marble and a giant pool in the center of the floor. That was a novelty she wasn’t expecting—there wasn’t much swimming on Jakku. She realized Armitage was still waiting for an answer and turned back to him.  
“I do, but…” She glanced around again, feeling him there. His Force signature coated everything, not to mention the alpha scent that hung in the place. “It’s his, isn’t it?”  
He surprised her by instantly telling the truth. “It is. But it’s the biggest suite here. Ren’s gift to us, you could say.” Rey didn’t have to sniff out Hux’s omega scent to know that he’d spent a lot of time here. He moved too comfortably, tossing his things habitually onto the familiar surfaces. She found she didn’t care. Family was what she was looking for, and this one appeared to be started for her.  
Straight to the important things, then. “Is that a pool, Gen--Emperor?” She tossed her head towards the open doors excitedly.  
The man smiled and rubbed his eyes. “My name is Armitage, although I can’t blame you for not using it. You can call me Hux, if you like. It’s a bathing pool, but yes, it may as well be a swimming pool. Have you ever—?”  
“I’ve never been in anything that wasn’t a refresher!”   
He was grinning now, either from the lingering buzz of alcohol or her contagious enthusiasm. “Oh, then you are going to love this.” Hux led her through the doors and punched a few buttons in the control panel. Water immediately began to pour into the tub. He didn’t have time to turn around before Rey splashed into the bubbles forming on the top. She resurfaced and peeled off her wet clothes, slapping them on the side of the tub. Hux stared at her, the pupils in his green eyes blown wide. “Do you…do you want me to leave?”  
“No.” Her tone was light as she scooted backwards in the tub, feet barely touching the bottom. “I can’t swim, you know. I might drown.” He looked at her incredulously as she rested her chin on the edge of the tub. “Are you getting in?”  
“I…um. Do you want me to?” He fumbled in his pocket for something and produced a deathstick, which he lit while holding between his lips. This made her happy—he wasn’t completely above breaking rules, then.   
“Well it’ll be awkward for you to stand there while I have all the fun, won’t it, General?”  
“Hux.”  
“Hux,” she agreed. She made a show of coasting around the edge of the pool while he got undressed, ducking under the water when he entered. When she came up for air, he was reclining against the opposite end of the pool, grinning at her in a lazy sort of way. His normally perfect hair was wet and plastered against his forehead. Between that and the deathstick, he could be any stranger passing through Jakku. She swam closer and he tensed.  
“Do I frighten you?”  
“No.” His answer was so blunt that she felt a little disappointed before he continued. “Maybe a little. Your similarities to him are astounding. He’s not going to take this well.”  
“Hmm.” She kicked her feet almost joyfully. “The fact that I’m strong with the Force or that I’m another alpha in your bed?”  
“The second one, probably.” Sarcasm sharpened the edges of his words, but the truth was there. She sunk onto the step beside him, resting on her knees.   
The question she’d been mulling over all night escaped her lips. “Why not just use him, then? You’re the oldest unbonded omega I’ve ever seen.”   
Hux flicked the deathstick into a bowl beside him. “Your claim was better.”  
There was more to this story. Rey had to refrain from leaning on the Force to find out more. “He didn’t want to,” she guessed.  
“Correct.” There was an edginess there, as though she’d progressed far enough. She leaned in instinctually to sniff that sensitive place on his neck. The sweet, warm smell of an omega filled her up and her body snapped to attention. Hux didn’t move.  
“I’m don’t understand why.” She inhaled deeply again. “You smell delicious.”  
He leaned towards her, then pulled back, unsure. “That’s why he wants you, you know. So you’ll stay away from me.”  
She locked her green eyes on his. “Too bad for Lord Ren,” she murmured. Hux slid closer to her, abandoning all pretense to answer her last whisper. “Come to me, omega.”  
***  
Four hundred yards away—which he knew damn well the girl could sense in the Force—Kylo Ren vented his feelings by kicking a mouse droid across the room. The thing shuddered and sparked when it the opposing wall. He shrugged out of his coat and threw it on the floor behind him. It hit something was a muffled thwump.  
“Did I ask you to come here?”  
“No, but I can see you need me.” The woman behind him, he knew, had long dark hair which she gathered in a pile at the nape of her neck. She was probably looking at him pityingly, her big blue eyes dark with disapproval. He turned to find he was correct on both assumptions. “It’s funny,” said Vosca, her full mouth twisting. “You didn’t want me here, but I’ll be damned if a departure wasn’t scheduled for me off the Supremacy. And the protocol droids seemed to be expecting me.”  
“I’m really not in the mood for this, Vosca.”  
“Neither am I, but yet you called me here.” She stepped into his arms, which he automatically closed around her. He pressed his face into her hair and breathed in. Omega. His.   
He hadn’t meant to bite her, no matter what the other knights whispered behind his back. They’d been on the edges of wild space, hunting something for Snoke, and she’d forgotten to take suppressants. She’d been flying with him and in the tiny confines of that ship, her scent had almost driven him wild. He’d never wanted something so bad in his life when he bit down and drew blood. Not until tonight, that was. The thought of the scavenger girl made something clench in his stomach.   
Snoke had been pleased, but he was the only one. Vosca and Kylo didn’t even like each other, as a rule. But her strength with the Force couldn’t be denied, and once bitten, omegas were forever bonded with their alpha. Vosca’s misery with him was precisely why Kylo refused to bite Hux, as much as it hurt him. No one deserved to be bound to him forever.  
“Kylo.” He didn’t take his face out of her hair, still breathing in. “Kylo!”  
He raised his head, annoyed. This had been a nice way to drown out what was going on down the hall until she’d ruined it. “What?”  
Vosca grasped his hand and lowered it to her stomach. He blinked at her, uncomprehending, and then he felt it.   
Felt him. The Force almost pulsed around them.  
“Mine?” He was breathing very hard. She nodded, looking happier than he’d ever seen her, at least with him.  
“Who else knows?”  
“Only the Supreme Leader. He said I could stay here, if you want me.” Kylo was now only dimly aware of what had caused his earlier misery, of the two people in his room. He grinned.  
“Stay.”


	8. 8

Hux was awake before everyone else the next day, as per his usual habits. He still felt slightly hungover from the night before and gratefully downed both the caf and the nutrient pack someone helpful had left in the kitchens of the massive castle. The pounding in his head subsided enough for him to look at his datapad without worsening the ache. He’d been granted a week’s leave for this mess, but that didn’t mean he’d leave anything of importance to Mitaka. He shuddered at the thought.  
A chime sounded from his comlink and he tapped it reflexively. Phasma.  
What you requested has been done. I put them out the airlock earlier. Quiet and over.  
Hux ignored the slight spasm of guilt that he felt, fingers hovering over the screen. Before he could respond, another message came through.  
We need to talk, Hux. Shall I come to you? Phasma’s perfect First Order accent had nothing on her articulate writing style. Always overcompensating, his friend. He smiled.  
On my leave? What is it?  
You want to hear this now. From me.   
He knitted his brows. That did not bode well. He and Phasma had an unspoken rule not to bother each other when they were off. He fired back a quick response.   
Come then. I’ll clear you for landing.   
Someone cleared their throat behind him and he jumped, almost dumping his caf down the front of his robe. He turned around to find a young woman sitting at the bar, watching him.   
“Vosca Ren.” He glared at her. “I’d ask you what you’re doing here, but I guess I know.”  
She smirked at him, swinging her feet. “Yes, I guess you do. We can’t have our new Emperor getting hurt.”  
“That’s not what I was referring to and you know it.” He hated this woman, one of Kylo’s minions that showed her face more often than the others. Rumors abounded that she was…favored. By Snoke. By the Force. By the Master of the Knights of Ren himself. Sitting at Ren’s table at 5 in the standard morning, looking like she’d just rolled out of bed, seemed to confirm that. “What are you really doing here?”  
“I’m visiting. At my master’s request.” The corners of her lips flicked upwards again at Hux’s put out expression. “How’s the honeymoon going? I was never under the impression that you particularly liked…” Hux looked murderous and she changed track. “Other people,” she finished. Her smirk grew wider.  
He flexed his fingers, fantasizing about throttling her. “You know, Vosca, as much as your presence thrills me, you’re very lucky that you enjoy Snoke’s protection.”  
The girl shook her dark hair out around her shoulders. “Or what? You’d kill me, Emperor Armitage?”  
He rolled his eyes. “It’s an intriguing idea.”  
“I’d like to see you try.”  
“No.” The familiar deep voice was thick with sleep and apparent dehydration, Hux thought, as Kylo, looking queasy, waved away the caf Vosca offered him and downed an entire glass of water in one go. He slid onto the bench beside the woman, blocking her from Hux’s view. “No one is killing anyone. We’re supposed to be on a break.”  
“Then why are you awake and criticizing us with your sweet disposition?”   
Kylo rested his head on his hands, shielding his eyes from the light. “Because everyone else is.” Hux muttered something to the service droid, who placed another nutrient pack on the table. He handed it to the knight, who swallowed it without reading the label. With a sense of irritation, Hux noticed that Kylo was barefoot and shirtless beneath his open robe. This wasn’t entirely unusual when he actually got to be at home for more than a day, but this down-dressing was usually reserved for Hux’s eyes only. He was utterly comfortable in Vosca’s presence, and that pissed Hux off.  
“Not everyone.” Vosca Ren frowned at Kylo as he slid the caf mug out of her hands. “Where’s your new wife? All worn out?” She winked at Hux over Kylo’s shoulder as the younger man looked at him with newfound interest.  
“No, actually. She was splashing away in the pool when I left. She likes your bathtub, Ren.” Let him make what he would of that.   
“Most people do,” Kylo replied in a dry and controlled voice.   
“Hey.” Rey skidded into the kitchen, her hair wet from the bath she’d evidentially just vacated. “I thought I heard voices out here. Is that caf?” She paused to take full measure of the room, eyes landing on Vosca. “Oh, hi!”  
Kylo must have still been nursing a headache because he screwed up his face and vaguely waved in Hux’s direction. He huffed and made the introduction. “Rey, this is Vosca, one of the Knights of Ren.”   
“And I was thinking that was a boy band that you made up.” Rey smiled peacefully as Kylo ignored her, turning to Vosca. “It’s good to meet you—oh!” Her eyes dropped towards the floor and back up again, looking to Hux like an innocent onceover. Evidently, that was not how it appeared to Kylo, who flung himself off the bench with surprising agility for someone who was hungover.  
“Walk with me a moment?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but tugged on the girl’s wrist. Her eyes flickered uncertainly between Hux and Vosca.   
“Um…okay.”  
It was too early for this sort of thing. Hux sighed. “Kylo?”  
“Don’t you have to meet Phasma?” The reply was a snap. So he had been digging around in his head this morning. Maybe even last night. Good. Hux didn’t want to be the only one this angry. He let them go, turning to a pale-faced Vosca.  
“Care to tell me what that was about?”  
Rey was gaping at him soundlessly, still trying to find the words to articulate what she’d just learned. Kylo leaned on a balcony edge, resting his forearms on the wall. Finally she managed to choke out the most pressing concern.  
“You’re going to tell him, right?”  
“That would be the best way, but I think dear Phasma is going to beat me to it.” He sighed. “I just didn’t want you to blurt it out and have him attack her in the middle of the kitchen. He’s not going to take it well.”  
“No, he’s not.” Rey paused. “I didn’t know that you and Vosca—“  
“It wasn’t something either of us wanted.” His tone was sharp and he continued quickly, as though he couldn’t help it. “Not the baby, Force knows, but the pairing in general. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to…” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I’ve never told Hux.”  
“That’s why you won’t bond him.”  
“I was hoping you would.” She blinked at the brazenness of the statement.  
“You don’t mean that.” She tossed it back at him. “You can have more than one.”  
Kylo turned his dark eyes on her searchingly. “Yes, I can,” he said slowly.  
Rey felt flushed. “So use Hux. I don’t…I mean, I don’t need…” She trailed off, confused.  
“You told me when we met that I didn’t like you.”  
“And?”  
Ren shrugged, one sleeve of his robe falling askew to reveal his scarred, muscled shoulder. “You didn’t let me decide for myself. Maybe I could. We could be allies, friends, especially if you make him happy.”  
Rey snorted. “You want me to be your switch.”  
“That’s a nasty way of putting it. Nothing wrong with playing the beta.”  
“The problem, Lord Ren, is that this scenario means you get everything you want.”  
“And you wouldn’t?” His eyes were searching hers again, intently. Her mind went to the previous night in the club and she forced her thoughts elsewhere.  
“I’m not considering it until you tell him.”  
He grinned. “But you are considering it.”  
“Watch it, Ren. You’re dangerously close to my thinking space.” She put her bare hand on his, and before he could pull away, she saw something else in his head. “Oh, it’s a boy.”  
“He’s a boy, yes. I can feel him, feel the Force around him so strongly.” His face was illuminated by the lava pools below. “Powerful already.”  
“Yes, I felt it.” Her face was pinched. Kylo, feeling her mood change over the strange connection between them, looked up from his reverie.   
“Stars, are you jealous? Convince Hux to come off his suppressants while we’re out here. I’m sure he’d whelp beautifully for you.” He watched her carefully for reaction. “Unless you’d rather be the one? Hard to do with an omega, but not impossible. Of course, you could run the more traditional gauntlet.” His palm curled as he held out a hand.   
Rey elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t touch me without permission, Ren.”  
“Until the day you grant it, then.”


	9. 9

Hux was sitting in an ancient chair, reading a report without retaining a single word of it, when Captain Phasma arrived. He noted with trepidation that she had left her usual guard behind, signaling that his was a very private visit indeed. She started to speak through the helmet—  
“Emperor—“  
“Christ, Phasma, just talk.” He tossed the datapad to the side, feeling that he would soon go out of his mind with anticipation. “Take the stupid helmet off.”  
She pressed the release on the side of her head and removed the helmet, shaking out pieces of her short blonde hair. Her face, though he’d seen it many times, never failed to surprise him. Maybe it was because the very first time they’d met she’d had on a ridiculously undersized stormtrooper helmet, spattered with someone else’s blood. She loved wearing the helmets, she’d once told Hux privately. Masks were a sign of power amongst her people, and the helmet was an extension of that. Truth be told, that was all she’d ever give up about her home world after she’d been with them for awhile. In fact, Hux was sure he was the only person who knew anything about the past of the intimidating woman in front of him.  
“Hux, when I killed your father for you—“  
He winced and glanced around. “What the hell, Phasma? I know this place is remote, but…”  
She merely fixed him with an icy blue stare until he leaned forward again, giving her his full attention. “When Brendol Hux had an unfortunate short illness, you promised me that we would always be allies.”  
“Yes, I did.” Hux’s voice was cautious. He’d watched his asinine father be walked into far too many agreements this way to think this was innocent.  
“So, when I tell you what I’m about to tell you, I need you to promise me that you’ll exert all of your power to protect me from the aftereffects of compromising said information.”  
The thought of Phasma in any sort of peril made him snort. “Who could possibly threaten you?” Phasma had not earned her captain’s cape in the traditional way; instead of tests and years of service, she had proved herself on the battlefield with his father, crushing enemies and family alike on her way off-planet.  
“Kylo Ren.”  
Hux felt the hot flash of anger and resentment that currently followed the mention of Ren’s name. “What exactly do you have to tell me, Phasma?”  
“Vosca Ren is pregnant.” Phasma’s voice didn’t waver from its clipped, Standard accent.  
Hux blinked. “The father?” He already knew the answer. Why do this? Because, his insidious mind purred, you deserve it. Pain purges weakness from the body, hissed the ghost of his father’s voice.  
“Is Ren.” Finally, Phasma’s icy veneer broke. She put her hand on Hux’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry Hux.”  
“It’s of no concern to me.” And it wasn’t, not really. His father had certainly had no interest in his mother after he was born. All he had to do was wait for the stupid woman to go away.  
“Hux, in Vosca Ren’s medical records, she is listed as a bonded omega.”  
Hux pressed his knuckles into his forehead. So this was why Kylo had no interest in bonding him. He had already bonded someone behind Hux’s back, and no telling how long ago. Every reason he’d ever given him—the danger, Snoke, all of it—was simply because he already had another.   
“So I was right. He didn’t tell you.” Phasma sounded disgusted. She had a mate, Hux knew, but she rarely saw him or her, and never spoke about it. “I thought for the longest time that you two were—“  
“No.” Hux lifted his head. “General, I need to ask for your help again.”  
“Anything, always, Hux.”  
“I want Vosca dead. And I think my lovely wife is the key.”  
“The girl? Surely she’s not as strong as Ren.”  
Hux smiled tightly, anger coiling in his gut. “You would be surprised.”


	10. Chapter 10

Not everyone liked quiet. Kylo Ren thrived on it.  
He brushed along the corridors quietly, reveling in the absence of officers, stormtroopers, and the constant hum that accompanied the collection of hundreds of people. A grateful feeling had settled over him, ousting his rage from the night before. Grateful that his master was not here to feel the confusing bundle of emotions currently ensnared in his gut. No doubt he had been waiting for the disturbance when Vosca broke the news, but this new complication with the girl was something else entirely. For the first time since he’d accepted Snoke’s tutelage, he felt that he’d rather figure this particular mystery out on his own. And that was a feeling that the Supreme Leader would not forgive.  
The doors to his room swung open as he absentmindedly tapped the panel.   
“There you are.” Hux was sitting on the edge of his bed, examining a square stone box.  
There was a minute of terrible silence. “Here I am.” The general was wearing long, dark robes that fell regally over his slim, sinewy shoulders, the front opened just slightly enough to expose the fair skin of his chest. The twisted diadem from before rested unassumingly on his head, the gold picking up the flecks of amber in his red hair. Kylo swallowed, wondering why he’d ever doubted that this man could be a king. No one had ever looked the part more. “Hux..”  
Armitage just looked at him, his green eyes impassive. “Come here.”  
“I know you’re angry, but you’re not going to tell me—“  
“I got you something.”  
*****  
“I got you something.” That was all it took for Ren to drop his tentative stance. His shoulders relaxed and he visibly exhaled, working hard to cover his excitement that this had been accomplished without a fight. Hux worked hard to conceal his smirk. His lover may have been skilled at reading minds, but Hux had a clairvoyance of sorts as well. For example, he knew that the mighty Jedi Killer liked gifts.  
He supposed it came from growing up the spoiled, rich child of the last princess of Alderaan. No doubt that they had been rolling in credits when Leia became a senator, and that had instilled a liking for the nicer things in Ben Solo that was never quite quenchable. His time at Skywalker’s jedi temple must have been frustrating—Kylo Ren did not like to deprive himself. That appreciation of luxury and gradeur had trickled into his adult life. Hux only had to run his hands across the rich bedding to confirm that. This was the result of the spoils of war, but it was also a weakness.  
He had never accepted a gift or an offer from anyone during his time at the academy. His stupid father may have had a brilliant mind when it came to the creation of perfect recruits, but he was astonishingly dimwitted when it came to making deals and taking bribes. Throughout his career, Brendol Hux had always been one step ahead of his debts. Well, almost always. Not even he could pay and blackmail to keep his secret bastard out of the news. He’d even faltered a little when Snoke had suggested this honor for him, afraid of walking into a trap. But it wasn’t. He’d just finally sidestepped all of the trials to the top.  
Not Kylo, though. Hux had watched time and time again as the boy’s face lit up when offered something new. The more he pleased Snoke, the grander the rewards had grown, although that wasn’t always the case. Sometimes the presents had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, leaving Hux stewing for days about what the stupid bastard had done that he hadn’t. The last two—Vader’s castle where they currently resided, and the unique and newest TIE silencer—had been the direct result of some dark deed Ren wouldn’t tell him about, not even in the vulnerable time after fucking when he was apt to talk.  
So it didn’t surprise him at all that Kylo immediately came closer, his dark eyes turned amber with interest. “What is it?”  
He toyed with the box in his hands. “Kneel before your emperor, Kylo Ren.”  
Ren tilted his head suspiciously, but sank slowly to his knees, eyes on Hux’s face. He smiled and opened the box, handing it to the eager man. Ren pulled it close to his face, looking intrigued. He brushed his open hand over the box, eyebrows furrowed in thought. With a sharp intake of breath, he slammed it shut, his eyes popping open in sync with the noise.  
“I’m not wearing that, Hux.”  
“Why not?” He pressed his fist to his mouth, fighting that smile.  
“You know why.” Kylo was melting rapidly from benevolent to angry, the shadow of his impenetrable Force overtaking his face.  
“Then you know what it’s meant to do.”  
Kylo eyed the box again, then flipped open the lid. A dark stone collar rested on the soft material inside, its blackness broken up only by the occasionally fleck of light.   
“It was created by the sainted Jedi. Well, the power contained within it was.” Kylo glared at the collar again. “It’s called Sever Force. Few have attempted it, and even fewer were successful. It’s a concept that’s not taught anymore. It’s draining and…” He blew a gust of air out. “It’s violating. For a light side attack, it’s evil.”  
“But contained in this stone, which I believe can be mined from the planet, incidentally, the effect would be temporary, correct?” Hux forced his leg to remain still, where it was longing to bounce with excitement. He tried to keep his thoughts blank as Ren looked up at him. “It would make you like everyone else.”  
“Yes, that’s the general idea. It would work only when worn.”   
“Let me put it on you.” Hux leaned in. “Wear it for me.”  
“Absolutely not,” Ren growled, although he leaned in, breathing deeply. “Damn it, Hux, are you in heat? I could smell you from outside.”  
“Maybe. You won’t know unless you do this for me.” Hux could see the battle going on inside of Ren, as clearly as if he was sitting in his head. The fervent religious fanaticism he held for the Force fighting against his baser, instinctual Alpha nature. The younger man’s lip quivered, as though he was getting ready to pout and insist it wasn’t fair. Afraid that Ren would take him regardless, Hux tried once more.  
“Don’t you think,” he said, speaking slowly and leaning into Kylo’s ear, “you owe me?” That did it. Sighing, Kylo bowed his head and threw his arms out to the side in a gesture of submission. Hux smiled again and lifted the collar from the box.   
It was heavier than he’d anticipated, and he felt almost guilty wrapping it around Ren’s neck, pausing to brush his long hair out of the way and pressing his lips to wear the clasp met his skin. Kylo took a shaky breath and rocked off of his knees, choosing to lean against Hux’s legs.  
“What’s it feel like,” he whispered, hands drifting slowly up and down Ren’s arms.  
“Bad. Cold. Wrong…good?” The last word came out as a question, and then, reverently: “Quiet.”  
“You can’t hear me?”  
“I can’t hear anyone. Not even--” He stopped himself, but Hux had heard enough.  
“Good.” He slid further back on the bed, letting the ceremonial robe slide off his shoulder. “Now, did you come to grovel at my feet, or are you here to worship your emperor?”  
*****  
Hux waited until Kylo was sleeping soundly on his stomach—that was the only way he could trust him to really be out—before picking up his comlink and rattling off a message. Glancing at Ren’s tousled curls once more, he opened a new message file.  
'I need all the information that you can provide me from the archives on Sever Force.;' He paused again. 'Requesting early termination of leave. The empress wishes to begin her training with leader Snoke. Would hate to deny her.'  
Smiling to himself, Hux took another drag on the deathstick before planting a kiss on the back of Ren’s neck and removing the collar.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I want to apologize for the enormous gaps between chapter posting here (I'm working on SO MANY THINGS right now). Also, I blame this entire chapter on the unholy miscreants I am friends with (reylo trash Facebook group, I'm looking at you) that ignited the Kylo thirst when right when I was drafting. Worry not--I've not forgotten our viciously lovely Armitage.   
> Please note there's a brief reference here to attempted sexual assault in this chapter. Nothing at all in depth, but use your judgement.  
> Other than that, enjoy, thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you, always.

“We’re leaving?” Rey turned this new development over in her head, puzzled. She was midway through one of the giant sticky buns that she’d become fond of since leaving Jakku, and it was a mark of her surprise that she put the thing back down. Her fingers made absentminded patterns on the ornate table. She knew that Hux was addicted to his work, but she’d hoped he would make some time here for them. In all honesty, Rey was not looking forward to returning to be the empress. There was so much more here to be explored, the shifting of some great force within these walls. “Why?”  
“Yes, Hux, why?” Kylo Ren stomped into the room, fully dressed and looking petulant. Rey scowled at him, catching a hint of his alpha scent on the air that made her own instincts peak. She didn’t have to wonder why Hux hadn’t come to their shared room last night—Ren’s signature was still all over her husband. Kylo, apparently picking up on this thought, turned to grin maliciously at her. She snarled.  
“Other than the fact that you are driving me insane?” Hux kept his eyes trained on the projected holoscreen as he typed on a simulated keyboard. “The Supreme Leader has called us back early.”  
Kylo looked perturbed. “He didn’t speak with me.”  
“Perhaps he’s upset with you about…something.” Hux’s tone was light, but Rey felt a flash of anger and embarrassment that didn’t belong to her. She glanced swiftly at Ren, whose cheeks had flooded with color. With a jolt, she realized that she liked him like this, discomfited and embarrassed. She brought her knuckle to her mouth and settled in to watch what was quickly becoming a routine battle of wills.   
Hux finished what he was typing on the holoscreen and shut it down, turned to look at Kylo with amusement. “By all means, tell him you don’t feel like coming back. I could use the entertainment.” Hux flipped a deathstick between his lips and lit it, grinning.  
“Do you want me to do that?” Kylo’s left eye twitched, the motion so slight that it was almost lost in the planes of his face. Rey took a huge bite of the sticky bun and rolled her eyes.   
The general scoffed and pulled the deathstick from his lips. “Of course not.”  
“You said you’d train me,” she interjected. The men turned around like they’d forgotten she was there. Hux’s free hand was wrapped around Kylo’s thick wrist, an intimate gesture that stirred something sad inside of her. When he caught her staring, the emperor released the knight’s hand. She watched the white finger marks fade away from his skin. This wasn’t the simpering, soft kind of affection she’d heard about as a girl. How strange to loathe someone and yet love them so fiercely.  
Kylo sighed, like she was an annoying task that he’d rather not deal with. He looked at Hux pleadingly. “I was supposed to be able to stay longer. Can we not have another day?”  
Rey turned to Hux, face shining with hope. “Please?” He smirked at her and reached out to slowly stroke her cheek, the touch entirely different from the one he’d just given Ren. She blushed as he leaned in and kissed her lips gently. He hadn’t touched her like this since their first night here. That cloying, sweet scent that clung to omegas washed over her, making her mouth water instinctually. How Kylo had gone this long without biting him—  
The emperor straightened up, flicking his tongue over his lips, as though he could taste the sweet roll she’d just finished. “You’re incredibly hard to deny, my empress. Isn’t she, Kylo?”  
The enforcer was leaning against the table with his hands clenched aggressively, as though he’d like nothing better than to pummel Rey. Taunting him, she ran her finger slowly across her bottom lip. Now it Ren’s turn to growl, something low and guttural that betrayed him his alpha status.  
“Kylo!” Hux used the same sharp voice he’d employed the night after Coruscant, demanding Ren’s attention. “Take her to the Tower and start training her like you said you would. I’ll talk to the Supreme Leader about granting us the extra day.”  
Ren’s jaw was working furiously. “And Vosca?”  
Rey raised her eyebrows, but Hux waved a hand carelessly. “Wherever you want her.”  
Satisfied, he turned his attention back to Rey. “You want me to take her…to the Tower?” Kylo’s voice was dubious.  
“What’s in the Tower? Take me, Lord Ren.” She swept gracefully off the stool, carefully sidestepping her BB unit in the process. The droid beeped in a foreboding way, but she patted it on the head all the same. The metal ball had been better company than everyone else here.  
“I’m not your servant!”  
“Careful, Ren.” Hux leaned close to Kylo’s ear, speaking so quietly that Rey only caught the conversation through the echoing Force bond connection. “You’re smart, Kylo, I think you understand ranking and order? We may have once ruled as a triumvirate, but you know that’s over now. Train her—an apprentice is far better than a rival.” Rey felt it, like a phantom touch, as Hux’s lips brushed Ren’s ear on the last word.   
Kylo jerked away, his rage permeating the room. He lifted two of his fingers in and pointed aggressively towards the door. “Let’s go.”  
“You shouldn’t antagonize him,” Rey murmured to Hux as she started to follow.  
“You should talk.” Hux brought her fingers to his lips and kissed her hand. “Enjoy, my love.”  
It was only after she’d left that Hux let his face slide into a satisfied smile.  
****************************************************  
“Why are you so angry all of the time?” Rey was feeling conversational as the elevator pulled them into the air. Kylo Ren was standing with his back to the wall with his arms crossed, leaning as far as he possibly could away from her. He didn’t answer, only let his eyes flicker towards her. She pressed on. “I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat, I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”  
“You couldn’t take my place, scavenger.” The elevator slowed to a halt and Rey blocked his exit as the doors opened. “Move!”  
“No. Listen. My name is Rey. You can call me that. Keep this up, and I will have you call me empress.” He had to be two heads taller than she was, but she held her ground all the same. Ren brought his hand up to prevent the doors from closing on them while he studied her.  
“Okay, Rey.” He dropped his hand from the elevator doors and she took an unwilling step back to keep him from getting crushed. “Welcome to the Tower. Well, one of them at least.” Claustrophobic warm air enveloped her as she turned, mouth dropping open.  
The Tower gave the horrible sense of being trapped at the bottom of a well. There were no windows, just ceilings so high that they became lost in darkness. The stone walls were hewn from the same obsidian that comprised the rest of the building, but something was different here, more ancient. The heat was boiling, and when she pressed her hands against the strange symbols carved into the walls, they were hot to the touch. In the center of the room, a large rounded bacta tank stood sentinel, liquid still visible through the glass.  
Something called to her. She looked sharply over her shoulder, as though someone had whispered in her ear, then down at the ground. Rey dropped to her knees, listening closely. Yes, whatever she heard was coming from beneath them. She pressed her palm flat against the floor and closed her eyes.  
Screaming sounded in her ears. She felt agony, grief, and anger so deep that she thought it would cleave her in two. And beneath that, something dark, with the greatest insidious presence she’d felt thus far. It wanted her—she took a tentative step towards it and heard the same voice call again. There was power undulating from the blackness, power that quickly dissolved into terror. Suddenly afraid she’d be trapped in this hell forever, she ripped her hand away and pushed herself roughly to her feet.  
Kylo Ren caught Rey as she slammed into him, staggering slightly. Afraid that he’d push her back into whatever darkness she’d just unleashed, she wrapped her arms around his waist and locked them there. No matter how he irked her, the solid realness of him felt good. She counted the rhythmic expansions of his ribcage, trying to make her breaths match his. He brought a slow hand up to her hair and rested his chin on her head.  
“Something horrible happened here,” she choked out.  
“Yes, it did. This was the site of my grandfather’s greatest defeat.”  
“Vader,” she whispered. The name took on new reverence now. “Why would he build his home here, then?”  
“I think your grandfather felt that he had to face this and overcome what happened here. It’s my understanding that at first this was a sort of punishment, but eventually he drew strength from it.” Kylo stepped away from Rey, releasing his hold on her hair. “You can’t be afraid of the dark side of the Force. You have to take what you want from it, and send it back when you’re done.” He placed his hands on either of her shoulders and pushed her back down to her knees, all trace of the comforting persona gone. “Do it again.”  
Terror seized her. “I can’t.”  
“You can.”   
She reached up and snatched his hand imperiously. “Help me.” Kylo chewed on his bottom lip and then nodded.  
“Okay.” He sank onto the floor beside her in a strangely animalistic crouch. Rey extended her fingers and allowed him to guide her palm back to the floor, where he rested his hand on top of hers. The strange bond between them gave a weird lurch. Ren pressed a little harder.  
“Reach out. What do you see?”  
At first it was the same—terror and pain attempted to blind her as she searched for the dark roots of power that had initially called. But this time she could feel Kylo’s warm hand over hers, anchoring her to reality. She breathed deeply.  
“It’s calling me again.”  
His deep voice seemed to come from within her own head now. “It’s going to show you something that you want…” He trailed off as something solidified in her vision. “You want to know more about your family.”  
A tear slid down her cheek. “Yes.”  
The pressure of Kylo’s hand increased. “Now it’s going to show you what you fear. Any desire, humiliation, anything you’ve ever been scared of—it’s going to manifest. Do not let it scare you. The dark side won’t give without taking, and you have to be stronger than what it shows you. Lesser men have lost their minds doing this…”  
He trailed off as Rey’s fear began to press in on them. A hundred scenes—a tiny girl crying for unknown parents, a leering junker approaching her on Jakku, the incredible fear she’d masked when the First Order had come for her—both of them felt it keenly. Then, another memory, unfamiliar to Rey—  
“My name is Sloane. Galli said you would come.” A pause. “We have to hide her.”  
Rey, suddenly not afraid, pulled on the memory, desperate to see the face of the woman more clearly. Instead it slid away from her, and she grunted in frustration.   
“Never mind,” Kylo muttered. “Let it show you what you can become.”  
The scene now changed to a throne room, where Rey sat, shrouded in the darkness that had frightened her earlier. There was a heady sense of victory hard-earned, and when vision-Rey turned her head to look at the adjoining throne, it was not Hux, but Kylo Ren who grinned back at her. She gasped and felt Ren pull up hard on the bond, bringing them both back from their meditation.  
“What was that,” he hissed. There was something strange now trembling beneath the surface of Ren’s calm façade. This was dangerous, she knew. The Force moved uneasily around them both.  
“It’s not what you’re thinking.”  
“Isn’t it? You don’t see Hux with you in power. You see me.” He had that hungry look again, like an animal on the hunt. Suddenly the rumors about the madness of the Jedi Killer made sense.   
Rey started to argue, then changed her mind. There was a better way to play this. Something mutually beneficial. She had seen something else in her vision, something that Kylo Ren had not.  
“Kylo. Touch me.”  
He pushed himself off of her back to face her. “Don’t ask for something you don’t want.”  
She spoke slowly and clearly. “Your empress commands it, Lord Ren.”  
Ren slowly slid his fingers into her hair and pulled her face towards his. This kiss, unlike the one they’d shared on Coruscant, was not a battle of wills, but a mutual surrender. She kissed him more deeply, allowing her tongue to dance along his teasingly. Stars, he tasted good. A small part of her remembered that this would be a part of his genetic makeup, as an alpha, and she realized she must taste the same way to him. He groaned and fumbled at the laces of her robes.  
“Just get rid of it,” she muttered, breathless. Kylo obliged, tearing the top slightly as he slid it down, exposing her bare shoulders, which he immediately brought his lips to. Her mind traveled to the leering junk trader from her vision, and she wondered if Kylo had also seen it and realized what the man had tried to do to her. She’d left the pervert broken and bleeding on the sand, but the memory still made her flush with anger. Kylo grew still and lifted his head, hearing her thoughts.  
“I’ll only do what you ask.” His eyes were honey colored in his lust and she felt an odd tenderness towards the boy that was unfamiliar. She knotted her hands in his hair.  
“Don’t stop.” He dropped his mouth lower this time, baring her breasts and sliding his nose along the curve of them before taking her nipple into his mouth and suckling her. He flicked his tongue over each of them in turn, watching her for her reaction. When he bit down on one experimentally, Rey bucked her hips and made a noise that she didn’t know she was capable of, and he grinned, seeming to realize something about her. He slid her robes past her waist and to the floor, hooking his thumb in the waistband of her underwear.  
“Only what you ask,” he repeated questioningly, his voice husky. Rey slid her hand under his chin. She liked this kneeling nearly as much as Kylo’s earlier embarrassment that morning when Hux had chided him. It was unusual for an alpha to expose this much self-control, this much…vulnerability. Particularly an alpha as volatile as Kylo Ren. She began to understand her husband’s preoccupation with him. There was something intoxicating about it.  
“Tell me one thing, Lord Ren.” He peered up at her through long lashes, totally at ease. “Are you doing this for me, or because of what you saw in my vision?”   
He slid his hand up the back of her thigh. “For you, of course.” He didn't meet her eyes.  
“I don’t believe you.” She pulled up on his chin. “For me, or to protect your omega?” Rey was quite sure of their solitude—voicing the Emperor’s status out loud was most likely a capital offense. If it wasn’t, she didn’t doubt Hux’s immediate reaction would be murderous. The boy dropped his head to plant a kiss on her hip.  
“I protect Hux of my own accord, but he is not my omega.” The statement was final, like he’d repeated it hundreds of times before. “And neither are you, which is why you desire me. I don’t come with the potential of bonding, and I can give you what you’ve been lusting after since I met you—power.” A wicked, crooked smile sliced into one of his cheeks. “Do you believe me now, Empress?”  
Rey didn’t answer, only smiled as she released his chin. She didn’t resist as he roughly removed her panties and slung her leg over his shoulder. He paused only for her nod before devouring her, his clever tongue working patterns around her most secret place. The Force hung heavily around them—through the bond she could see Kylo thinking of her on the throne, the taste of her, leaning on the Force to intensify her pleasure. He didn’t break his pace as he slid his fingers into her, stroking. Rey quaked. This was darkness, this was wrong, this was…  
“Come for me,” Ren growled in her head. She broke, and through the starburst of her own pleasure, she could feel his as he watched her, satisfied. It reminded her of what she had first seen in his head: the intense need to prove himself. He pulled her into his lap, sensing her legs were not going to last. Rey leaned her head on his shoulder while he brought the fingers of his right hand to his mouth and sucked on them, tasting her.  
“You’re…” She was so out of breath. “You’re an animal,” she finally managed to get out.  
Kylo slowly pulled his fingers away from his mouth. “Oh, I know.” He paused a minute, smoothing her hair away from her damp forehead. How he wasn’t completely melting in that ridiculous outfit, she didn’t know. He seemed to be gearing up to say something else.  
“Rey…who is Sloane? Galli?”  
She opened her eyes, staring into the dark ceiling. “I don’t know. I wish I did.” Kylo looked away from her, puzzled, then jerked his own comm in front of his eyes.  
“Kriff,” he muttered. “We have to go.”  
“What now? Hux decided to leave after all?” Rey stretched her arm out, focused, and called her clothes to her. Small things were coming more easily now.  
“No,” Kylo said as he slid her off his lap. “The Supreme Leader is here.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I realized tonight that I've been sitting on several chapters worth of drafts for this one without posting. Enjoy, and forgive me if this is full of more mistakes than usual (I don't use a beta reader). I was a little tipsy shortly before deciding I'd rather be writing tonight.  
> May the Force be with you, always!

Something was wrong. More than anything else, Kylo’s master hated to be on-planet. Snoke had once confided that to him as they made to land, citing the disorienting decompression and loss of altitude. Over the years, Kylo had come to know that it was more than that. Being on-planet meant that you were beholden to that planet’s resources. It was dependence that Snoke hated, nothing more. The Supremacy had been the ultimate exercise in self-sufficiency. His master’s flagship could sustain itself and crew for years in deep space. Not that it had ever needed to.  
Which meant that Snoke’s descent onto Mustafar could not bode well for Kylo. He marched ahead of Rey, needing to put some distance between the two of them. Stars, he could still taste her. It was unusual for another alpha to move him this way. Sweat trickled down his spine as he thought about Hux’s comment that morning.  
“Perhaps he’s upset with you about…something.”  
Well, he would be now. Rey slid into the lift behind him, leaning against the far wall.  
“You weren’t expecting him, then?”  
“No.” The doors slid opened and Kylo shoved past her. “But I think your husband was.”   
“Master.” Vosca was waiting for them in the corridor, her hood up and around her face. “The Supreme Leader is waiting for us.”  
Kylo gritted his teeth. “I am aware.” He shoved Rey through the door, unwilling to juggle both of their Force signatures when Snoke was so close. With her gone, he immediately felt calmer. Vosca didn’t touch him, and for that he was grateful.   
“We need to go in,” Vosca said quietly. She surveyed Kylo critically. “What is wrong with you?”  
If anyone else had spoken to him like that, he’d have used the Force to throw them through the wall. He clenched his fist, fighting the impulse. “Let’s just go.”  
The castle on Mustafar had several suites, with some of the largest containing outer meeting rooms. Kylo wasn’t sure what the plans were for these areas; as far as he knew, very few people had stayed here for more than a few hours of business in the days of the Empire. His grandfather didn’t care for guests. Neither did he, for that matter, but it appeared that Snoke had found them useful.  
It was in one of the largest of these rooms that Snoke now sat, with Hux on his left. The emperor had Rey in his lap, his coat thrown casually over her shoulders. Kylo swallowed a smirk, knowing that he had destroyed the elaborate gown Rey had been wearing. Despite this satisfaction, it was incredibly hard to kneel before Hux. Shame made him blush as he sank to his knees, eyes on the floor. Vosca knelt as well, behind him and a little to the right, as befitting rank.  
Rank. One day he’d crush the entire galaxy beneath the heel of his boot.  
“Kylo Ren.” Snoke’s voice cut through his thoughts. “I was just telling the Emperor how…sorry I am for bothering you on your leave.” There was a sharpness beneath the pleasantry, daring Kylo to voice his unhappiness. He was not so easily tempted.   
“The leave is by your grace, Master. I am always ready to return.” He gazed challengingly at the Supreme Leader, feeling reckless. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hux watching him. He was drinking something, and his focus didn’t waver as he swallowed. Rey, on the other hand, was looking away from both of them. Kylo could feel her fear and uncertainty as clearly as if it were his own.  
Snoke considered him before speaking. “I’m afraid I must ask you to return.” He inclined his head towards Hux. “All of you. The resistance has reared its ugly head again, and their focus is on the Lady Palpatine.” He chuckled. “You can imagine that they are displeased we found you, Empress.”  
“Is that so,” Rey said softly. She was looking right at him now. “Supreme Leader, may Lord Ren and Lady Vosca rise?”   
Both Kylo and Hux winced, expecting Snoke to unleash his temper. Instead, his master looked at Rey with interest.   
“Certainty, Lady Palpatine.” The twisted face broke into an eager smile. “Command them.”  
This was a test. Kylo’s heart beat faster, the quicker rhythm matching Rey’s that he could feel through the bond. He could barely force himself to look up. Hux pressed his hand over hers, a silent encouragement. His eyes were still on Kylo. Vosca might as well have been a part of the decoration.  
Rey stood. “Rise, Lord Ren, Lady Vosca. I want you to look at me when I speak to you.” Her tone was steady, but Kylo could almost hear her thoughts.  
Stand up, you idiot.   
He did, gesturing behind his back for Vosca to join him. She swept effortlessly to her feet, but his alpha instincts still wanted him to make sure the time kneeling hadn’t hurt her. He ached to press his hand against her stomach and feel his child move there. Damn them all for taking that from him.  
“Supreme Leader, my husband and I request to retain control of the Finalizer as our flagship. As he has already been a fast teacher…” Rey spared Kylo a tight smile. “I would ask that Lord Ren remain with us as much as possible, so as to accelerate my training.” She paused. “Assuming that he agrees.”  
Any impulse that Kylo had to shoot back that he was not a servant died with the look Hux gave him, both pleading and pacifying. He cleared his throat.  
“I am willing, Master.”  
“Very well.” Snoke nodded. “Leave me with my apprentice.” Vosca bowed again and exited silently, followed by all of Snoke’s praetorian guards. They wouldn’t go far, Kylo knew; they’d be waiting outside the doors with agitation, hoping to run him through. Hux pressed his hand into the small of Rey’s back and left with her.   
They were alone.   
“Kylo.” Snoke stood, and glared at him. “Your refusal to deny yourself what you desire has always been a strength.”  
“Thank you, Master.”  
“I urge you not to let it become a weakness.”  
*********************************************************************************************************************  
After their meeting with Snoke, Hux had left her in their—Kylo’s—rooms, citing a call from Captain Phasma. Rey took the opportunity to relax for the first time all day, flopping into the room’s giant bed. She could smell both Hux and Kylo’s signature all over it. Her mouth watered.   
Someone knocked, making her jump. Strange…everyone she knew to currently be living here would have just walked right in. She opened the door cautiously.   
A stormtrooper stood there, seemingly uncomfortable. He lacked the rigidity of the other troopers that she had encountered during her extraction from Jakku. If it was a he…she supposed she couldn’t assume, as she’d met several female stormtroopers in her short time with the Order. Still, there was something about this one that made her err on the side of male.  
“Empress. I wanted to introduce myself. I’ve been assigned to your escort team for the time being. If you need anything, I will be here.”  
Interesting. “Is it…customary for stormtroopers to introduce themselves?” She searched the viewport of the damnable mask all of the troopers wore. Much like with Kylo Ren’s helmet, she found the lack of expression irksome.  
The trooper’s body language shifted slightly. “Not really, no.” The modulator betrayed something like amusement from the boy. “But I’ll be part of your security team from here on out, so I thought one of us should know you.”  
“Hmm.” She squinted. “Can you take off your helmet?”  
“That’s against regulation, Empress. Captain would have my head.”  
“Kriff the Order and their rules. I outrank your captain.” She gestured inside. “Come here and talk to me.” The soldier hesitated. “That’s an order,” she said, smiling wryly.  
The trooper slid through the door and removed his helmet. She blinked in surprise. He was young, with dark skin and bright, intelligent eyes. She glanced at his identification number.  
“FN-2187. Don’t they give you names?”  
“No, no.” The trooper smiled. “That’s it. There’s a lot of us, you know.” He snorted, then looked uneasy. “Forgive me. Don’t tell anyone I said that.”  
She laughed. “Your secret is safe with me.” There was something about this boy that made her want to trust him. Maybe he was the first person she’d met in quite some time that didn’t want something from her. “Do you know where we are going?”  
FN-2187 frowned. “You don’t know?”  
“It was a rather quick conversation. Lord Ren is still meeting with the Supreme Leader. I suppose they’ll let us know soon.” The trooper’s expression flickered between disapproval and fear. “You don’t like him,” she deduced.   
“There’s something humbling about being around someone who can use magic, is all. I always thought that Jedi were a myth. Kid’s stories. Not that I heard many of those.”  
“So did I.” The truth jumped out of her, like she was a child that had been dying to tell a secret. “I can wield it. The Force,” she added.  
2187’s eyes bulged. “Really?”  
“Really.” She called his helmet into her hands, and he gasped with amusement. “You had better get this back on, FN-2187. It was good to meet you. Maybe we’ll speak again soon?”  
The boy replaced his helmet. “If that’s what you want.”  
“I do want that.” She smiled. “Thank you for coming here.” If Hux and Kylo had their spies and confidants throughout the Order, then she would have her own.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thirteen is my favorite number, so here's my favorite chapter so far.   
> May the Force be with you, always.

Rey wasn’t the only one entertaining guests that evening. Kylo, biting mad and angry from his unexpected meeting with Snoke, was in rare form. He gave himself over to his instincts completely, enabling him to quickly pick up Hux’s scent in the ship. It was stronger, he hadn’t been imagining it. The emperor was off his suppressants.   
Which could only mean that he meant for Kylo to find him.  
The girl was in her—his—room. Hux’s scent went past the door, towards one of the smaller suites. Kylo moved quickly, ripping the door open with the Force. The room was dark, but Hux was waiting for him in the refresher. He was slowly unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt while looking at himself in the mirror. His scent was overwhelming. Kylo took a deep breath, and closed the gap between them.  
He wrapped his arms around Hux from behind, bending to ghost his lips over the back of the shorter man’s neck. Hux shuddered and dipped his head to the side, allowing Kylo better access to his skin. They stood intertwined like that for several minutes before Hux became aware of Kylo’s hand, which had wandered up to rest on the emperor’s pale throat. Where before it had been a caress, Kylo now squeezed more tightly than was comfortable.  
“You told him and you knew,” he accused Hux, meeting his eyes in the mirror. There was nothing repentant in Hux’s expression as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip, studying Kylo.   
“I knew he was coming,” Hux conceded. “But I didn’t tell him about the collar, although you do know he put me onto it. It’s not hard to assume you’ve already had it on.” He spoke with a louder, firmer tone of voice than his usual murmur. “Let go of me, Ren.”  
His temper was pressing on him and his darkness, but Kylo managed to remove his gloved fingers Hux’s throat. Hux sighed with quiet satisfaction, and turned so his body was flush against Kylo’s. He lifted the emperor, his emperor, onto the counter so that he could look up at him.   
“You keep tormenting me for things that aren’t my fault.”  
“Oh Kylo, please stop your constant whining. I’m so lenient with you.”  
“Lenient with me? Who do you think you are?” Kylo gripped Hux’s hips roughly.  
“Your king.” Hux moved quickly to wrench the heavy collar around Kylo’s neck. It snapped shut before he could react, instantly wresting the Force away from him. The emptiness of it was horrible. He snarled and shoved Hux backwards. The emperor’s head snapped back and cracked against the glass, but he didn’t flinch. The fingers he brought to his red hair came away bloody. Kylo watched, fascinated, as Hux sucked the blood from his digits.  
“Take it off.” He tried it without much fire behind it. Kylo didn’t doubt his sparring ability, but he did feel strangely vulnerable when separated from the Force. Weakness frightened him, stirred the scared boy that he once was from within. Hux couldn’t know that, of course, but he knew when he had the upper hand.   
There was a hiss as Hux lit a cigarette and flipped it between his lips. “No.” His calm was infuriating. “I can’t talk to you when you’re capable of throwing your fits”  
“Then talk to me, you pompous idiot.”  
“Alright. If we were to go to my rooms right now, what do you think we’d find there?” Hux exhaled a plume of smoke.  
Kylo’s lip curled maliciously. “Your very bored and dissatisfied wife?”  
“If she’s dissatisfied, it’s through no fault of mine.” Hux flipped his eyebrows upward and Kylo let his lips fall open slightly.   
“Hmph.”  
“Lady Palpatine has been in the company of one of my soldiers this evening.” Hux said this airily, but his legs tightened around Kylo’s waist.  
“In the company of…”  
“Oh, no.” Hux chuckled. “She’s not interested in lovers. At least, I don’t think so.” He stroked Kylo hair out of his face, making him jerk away irritably. “Our sweet lady has made herself a friend.”  
“A spy,” Kylo said shrewdly.   
“Yes, I think so. She’s much better at playing the game than I first realized.”  
Kylo thought of the way Rey had played the camera at their proxy wedding, as though she could already see the galaxy falling neatly into her hands. “I agree.”  
“Which is perfectly fine. Assuming that she’s still on our side.” Hux pressed the tip of his death stick into his palm and winced as it went out. “Is she still with us, Kylo?”  
He thought of the vision from the tower he’d shared with Rey, and pictured the two of them on the throne.   
“I think so,” he lied easily.  
“And you, my prince?” He placed his hands on either side of Kylo’s face, gently touching the ears he’d always hated as a child. Hux knew that. He knew everything. Too much. Kylo could smell the burnt flesh from where Hux had put out his deathstick, and was reminded again that the emperor was not a normal man. He brought his dark eyes to Hux’s green ones.  
“Of course.”  
“I’m not sure I believe you, my love.” Hux slid off the counter and bumped Kylo out of the way. “Which is so disappointing, considering your happy news.”  
“What do you mean?” Hux trailed out of the bathroom and Kyo followed him, trying to sound unconcerned.   
“Just that it would be such a shame if something were to happen to Vosca.”  
Kylo reached out and tried to stop Hux with the Force, then remembered he couldn’t. “Do not threaten my pups.”  
Hux sank gracefully onto the bed. “Oh, is there more than one now? Wonderful.”  
“I don’t think so, but there may be more in the future.” That gave him pause. Did he mean that?  
“Perhaps.”  
Kylo was over his limit. “Don’t threaten me just because you’re angry that I didn’t choose you.” He couldn’t make himself stop. “You’re off your suppressants, why? What did you think would happen here?” He picked up a chair and kicked it across the floor. “As if you could compare to Vosca. To—”  
“Rey?” Hux stood up, quiet in his anger where Kylo was explosive. “I think I’ll stay with my wife tonight. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow when we board to go.”  
Kylo was breathing hard, still trembling with the aftermath of his rage, which was already fleeting. His tantrums always left him emotionally wiped, trembling, and disconcerted. Something in his mind fell hard into place.  
“Hux…the collar.”  
The emperor’s red hair was disheveled where he’d raked a hand through it. There was no sympathy in his face.  
“Like I said…maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.” There was nothing Kylo could do to stop Hux as he left, short of physically restraining him. He let him go.  
Deprived of the Force and his connection to living things, Kylo was gripped with fear that he didn’t usually feel. He readjusted his clothes to hide the collar and left the room with one thought. There was one person that might be able to help him, and that was conveniently the one he was concerned about now. He nearly barreled through the door.  
“Vosca.”  
******************************************************************************************************************************************************  
Vosca hated many people, but none so much as Luke Skywalker.  
Before Kylo burst into her room, she had been sifting through the Orders’ databanks, looking for anything that might lead them to the ancient Jedi. Her memories drifted to the night of the destruction of the Jedi temple.   
She wasn’t part of the inner circle Ben Solo had quietly cultivated in the weeks before, but she felt the shift all the same. There was so much discontent, but also excitement, like predators catching scent of prey. Looking back now, she couldn’t believe that Skywalker hadn’t noticed it. It made her doubt his supposed skill with the Force.  
Luke had been kind enough, but never focused much attention on Vosca. The fear of raising another Vader was so strong in the culture after the war that most people, including her parents, regarded anyone Force sensitive with suspicion. It wasn’t a hard decision to dump her off on him, and she never quite shook the feeling of being a burden. Not a youngling, but not old enough to work with the quietly intimidating older students, she’d spent much of her time on the outside.   
All that alone time had allowed her time to test her powers on her own, sometimes at the expense of her classmates. Once, she injured one of the other students by accident, knocking into him with a stone she was lifting. Luke had scolded her, but she disregarded that when she noticed the cool eyes of Ben Solo on her. Later he’d stopped Vosca on the grounds.  
“He won’t teach you how to control that and use it.”  
She stopped and looked at Ben, who was slowly filling out as he made the transition from teenage to manhood. Next to him and his famous heritage, she felt skinny and awkward and useless.   
“I shouldn’t have done it. It doesn’t matter.”  
“Doesn’t it?” Ben left her staring after him, troubled and confused. But after that conversation, she continued pressing herself, leaning on anger and resentment to fuel her growth. Still, she blended in well enough with the others, and was reasonably happy.  
Until she presented as a kriffing omega. She couldn’t believe it. All that time to get to the top, only to find out she’d been a second-class citizen the whole time. Her parents hadn’t visited for years, so she wasn’t worried about telling them. Luke had impressed upon her the necessity of keeping it hidden, and the danger it posed. Being bonded to someone you didn’t love would be miserable.  
She wondered what he would think if he knew that his nephew had bonded her.  
The night the temple was destroyed had been quiet. She never heard the start of it or saw the catalyst. It all had come down to a simple choice. Once it became apparent that they were under attack, everyone was up and out of bed with their sabers drawn. Two of the older students broke through the doors and attacked, felling those who were too stupid or too meek to fight back. Her roommate, that she’d known for years, had screamed at her when she approached to help.  
“Get away from me, Sith! You’re one of them, aren’t you? Master Luke always suspected you--” Her voice was choked off as someone used the Force to slam her into the wall, where she slid to the floor and didn’t move. To this day, Vosca wasn’t sure if it had been her or one of the older students that killed that girl.   
What she did know was what happened next. The attacking students moved towards her and she threw herself to the floor, her panicked feet sending her scuttling into a corner. Her assailant tilted his head, which he’d covered with a homemade mask, considering her. His companion shrugged, and he lifted his lightsaber over his head.  
“Stop.” The student froze in place, his lightsaber held aloft. Ben Solo had entered the room and had a hand extended, stopping the boy from killing her. Smoke was starting to fill the air thickly around them. “We need to go. Get ready.” He released his friend, who ran for it with the other boy. Ben squatted down in front of her.  
“Vosca? Vosca, don’t be scared. We’re going to get out of here, okay? Luke can’t help you anymore, but I can.” There was something shaky about Ben, like a live wire had touched him. His mouth trembled and his eyes were bright and wild. “You have to come with me, or you’re going to die. We can learn so much more.” He waited. “Okay?”  
She’d taken his hand and allowed him to run with her through the crumbling remains of the temple and outbuildings. It was only after they’d taken off that she thought to look back at the place that had been her home for so long, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the sense of heady accomplishment and comradery of the handful of people on the ship, or just the relief of being around people who weren’t afraid of her. All the other students regarded Ben with something close to terror, but she mostly felt awe. They had given him space, choosing to pilot the ship and compare kills, but she slept the entire way to the Outer Rim curled into Ben’s side.  
Snoke hadn’t been the warm homecoming that they’d all been expecting. Ben dissolved into Kylo Ren as smoothly as a serpent sheds its skin, and no one but Vosca seemed to remember the time when he had been Ben Solo. Over the years she had come to resent Snoke for the same reasons she’d loathed Master Skywalker.  
They refused to let the real king rise.  
For whatever reason, Vosca had associated the destruction of Luke with the turning point for both of them. Without that failure to hold over their heads, maybe Snoke could be destroyed. All that would be left to deal with would be their stupid emperor and his equally foolish wife. But without the destruction of Skywalker, someone would always be there to prevent their rise.  
It was in the middle of this thought that Kylo burst through her door with the same wild energy she remembered from the night of the mutiny. It took her a minute to register what it was that felt so wrong.  
She couldn’t feel her master in the Force.  
“Kylo,” she whispered, aghast. “What…how?”  
He groaned and ripped off his tunic, clawing at his neck. Vosca cautiously approached him, unsure of what she was seeing. She laid her hands on the collar, and instantly couldn’t feel her baby anymore. Frightened and shocked, she ripped her hands away. Once the Force surrounded her again, she tried touching the weird stone necklace again. Nothing.  
“Sever Force?” The phrase didn’t even seem real as it left her lips.  
Kylo nodded.   
Kriff. Kriff it all, and screw the Maker. Vosca rounded on her master.  
“How could you be so stupid? Hux?”  
“Yes.” His teeth seemed glued together, and he threw himself onto her bed.   
“What are you going to do?”  
“Can you take it off?”   
“I’m so sorry, Kylo, I can’t. As soon as I touch it I lose everything.” She settled onto the mattress beside him and propped her head on her hand. “He has the key?”  
“Yes.”  
“Oh.” She shrugged. “Then get it back.” She paused, sensing Kylo’s reluctance to force Hux’s hand. “Can the empress get it back?”  
“Even if she could, I don’t trust her.”  
Vosca frowned. “If we had a source to drain, I could take it off.” Now Kylo turned over to look at her, interested. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”  
“I don’t think it will, but that’s an interesting idea, Vosca.” He granted her a hint of a smile. “I think I know what the Supreme Leader and our emperor are gambling with.” She let her eyes flutter closed as he rested his hand on her stomach. They didn’t like each other, but the bond between an alpha and an omega was strong. Being around Kylo made her entire system relax with a false sense of safety and contentment. And his scent…she could put up with a lot for that alone.  
Apparently the effect was similar on the alpha’s end, because Kylo slept with her easily. As his breaths grew slower, Vosca thought about Skywalker, Hux, and the strange girl who had moved into this game so fluidly. There was something threatening about her, but not for the usual reasons. Vosca, as a knight of Ren, was used to people wanting to kill them.  
The desert rat wanted to rule them.  
To get rid of Skywalker and Snoke, Vosca was willing to let her.


	14. Chapter 14

It was all he’d ever wanted.  
Hux leaned against the railing of the landing platform and looked across the craggy rocks to the boiling lake below. He knew he must cut an impressive figure, silhouetted against the shape of Darth Vader’s castle, his red robes swathed around him. Ready to return and be feared. The Supreme Leader hadn’t specified, but Hux hoped to be staying aboard the Supremacy for quite some time. He’d had enough of being on-planet.  
The sound of footsteps made him turn, and he smiled to see Kylo coming towards him, looking murderous. His knight was in full ceremonial Sith garb, the long black robes brushing the ground. There was no one else around. Hux slipped a finger into Ren’s high cowl, brushing his neck.  
“Compensating for something, princeling?” He chuckled, bumping the stones resting against Ren’s damp skin. “That has to be hot.” Kylo growled, and it was the same ridiculous guttural sound that all alphas made. Hux rolled his eyes. “You’re incapable of learning any discipline or having fun.”  
“You’ve had your _fun_ ,” Kylo said. “Now take it off.” He stuck out his chin. “Please.”   
“I won’t.” Hux pulled his hand out of Ren’s cowl and slid it into his hair. “Firstly, I don’t want to, and secondly, you’re so pretty when you ask me. I want to hear it a few more times.” Kylo’s mouth wobbled when he realized he wasn’t going to get his way again. Hux leaned in, unable to resist, and kissed the pathetic creature.   
It was like they hadn’t been fighting at all. Kylo immediately gave into him, resting his hands on Hux’s hips. He delicately cradled the boy’s face as he kissed him, savoring the head rush that came from kissing an alpha. When he slipped his tongue into his mouth, Kylo groaned the pulled him closer, hands sliding up his back.  
Their kiss grew more intense, Kylo’s lips insistent on Hux’s own. He could feel how badly Ren wanted to force his head back, to take control of the situation. But this was Hux’s game, and he refused to relax his hold on the alpha’s face. Kylo slid his hands around Hux’s waist and ground his hips against him. Heat pooled in his stomach as he dropped one hand from Kylo’s cheek and palmed the knight’s length. Ren groaned and opened his eyes and Hux could see the flash of something else, something animalistic that betrayed him for what he was.  
That was how Hux found himself in a storage room shortly off the landing platform. As the door shut behind them, he was reminded strongly of the beginning of his relationship with Ren. He had nursed so much hatred for the man back then that he had assumed it was mutual. So when Kylo cornered him one evening after a meeting with Snoke, Hux had no doubt Ren meant to kill him. Instead, something even worse…  
 _“Get away from me,” Hux snarled. “The Supreme Leader will have your head.” He tried to show no fear, to pretend that this masked beast pinning him to the wall wasn’t scaring him. “Now!”_  
Ren’s helmet clunked against the wall beside Hux’s ear. There was a loud, rattling respiration through the modulator. His knee moved to hold Hux in place as he hit a release and the mouthpiece lifted away from his face. Despite his fear, curiosity made him look up. A full red mouth, lips slightly parted as he inhaled.  
“I can smell it on you,” Ren rasped.  
Hux’s stomach dropped. This was career ruining, his father’s shame, Hux’s greatest fear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“Stupid,” Ren whispered. “To walk around here openly like that. You must know how many of your personnel present as alphas. You could be raped, bound to a subordinate.”   
The closet door to their right slid open of its own accord and Ren body-checked him through it. Hux drew his blaster and pointed it directly at Ren’s heart. He hoped he had one.  
“Let me out of here.”  
“No.”   
“What do you mean, no? Let me out now!” Hux flicked the safety off.  
The blaster flew out of his hands and landed in Ren’s, who casually turned the safety back on and tossed it over his shoulder into the darkness of the closet. When he opened his mouth to start shouting, Ren slapped his hand over his lips and held him there in an iron grip, both arms pinned behind him. There was the sound of footsteps from outside.  
“Right now, there are two men walking by this closet. One of them is a soldier, the other is an officer. Both have caught your scent, but they don’t realize it’s you.” Hux struggled against Ren, who held firm. “The soldier is young, and only wants to find you by pure instinct. The officer is older, and he is intelligent. Whoever this unknown Omega is, he plans to take them and blame the idiot soldier for the rape.” Hux’s struggling slowed. “Do you want that to happen, General?”  
“No.” Apparently satisfied that Hux wasn’t going to bolt, Ren released him. He sank onto a long-dead service droid, feeling winded. The Jedi Killer watched him curiously.   
“How long have you known?”  
“I’ve suspected it for a long time, but this is the first I could smell you.” There was a pause after the last two words. Looking up at him, Hux could see Ren’s tongue wet his lips underneath the released face mask.  
“Take it off,” he urged on impulse. “Let me see you.”  
The knight shifted from one foot to the other. “You won’t like it.”  
“What are you, deformed?” Ren didn’t answer, and Hux grew impatient. “If you brought me here to take me, you could at least have the decency to look me in the eyes.”  
“Take you?” There was a note of derision on Ren’s tone that made Hux blush. “Oh General, if I had planned on doing that I’d have already done it.” Still, he lifted his hands to his helmet and pulled it off.   
Long, gently curling hair. Expressive dark eyes. And that mouth…his stolen glances through the voice modulator hadn’t done it justice. It was almost vulgar. Hux had only looked at it for a moment, and he was already imaging the sinful things that it could do.  
Ren ducked his head and Hux caught his chin. “Why hide that?”  
The boy looked up at him through long eyelashes and shrugged petulantly. He bent to sniff along Hux’s wrist, and his eyes widened.   
“You’re in heat, General.” There was a drag on the r, like Ren wanted to growl. “Do you need help?”  
As soon as it was spoken out loud, the urge that Hux had been repressing for the better part of this day moved to the forefront of his mind and consumed him. His pulse roared in his ears, and the horrible, aching, longing feeling opened up between his legs. It wasn’t arousal, but acute need. It was the absolute worst part of being an omega, the need to submit to someone else. He’d only coupled a few times in his life, and never bonded, because the thought of being someone’s bitch was too much to bear.  
His mouth was dry. “No.”  
Ren frowned at him. Got down on his knees and rested his forearms on Hux’s thighs. At this proximity Hux could smell the alpha rolling off the man, and it set his system on fire. He groaned.  
“I don’t want to bond you,” Ren said slowly. “I’m not going to tell anyone about you even if you refuse me.” He nuzzled Hux’s lap, and his hips jerked forward reflexively. “Let me.”  
He let his body go slack, became malleable in Ren’s arms. The man’s lewd mouth ghosted over his bonding site on his neck, and Hux bleated. If he didn’t get what he wanted soon, he was going to die.   
“You’re a talker,” Ren muttered, smiling. “Do you speak more?” The knight peeled away his clothes, leaving Hux naked and vulnerable in his arms. He could feel the sticky wetness between his legs and, embarrassed, tried to close them and move away.  
“Stop,” Ren said, like he was reprimanding a child. He used his gloved hands to force Hux’s thighs apart again and knelt between them. That filthy mouth enveloped him, stroking him so hard that he almost cried. Ren slipped a gloved finger into his entrance and caressed it, never once breaking the rhythm that he had set. Hux was squirming and whimpering, and it all felt so good, but it wasn’t what he needed.  
“Ren, for kriff’s sake, PLEASE.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he hated himself for it, for this desperation that his biology had instilled in him.  
The Ren reached to tug down his black pants, leaving them slung around his hips. Even in his delirium, Hux could tell that the man didn’t like to expose himself. His huge eyes never left Hux’s as he positioned himself at his entrance and shoved himself in in a single thrust.   
They fit together perfectly, which surprised Hux. He would never have expected to be compatible with the Jedi Killer. Ren broke his stare, looking away from him as he thrust faster, a look of intense concentration on his face. The knot was forming, he could feel it—Hux arched his back, hungry for this domination…  
“Look at me,” Ren ordered. Against his instinct, which wanted him to leave the back of his neck exposed to the alpha, Hux turned to face him. It was wet…he was crying. There was a moment when it looked like Ren wanted to kiss him, a dim concern lighting his eyes. And then it was gone. Ren came hard, dropping his head onto Hux’s chest.   
His eyes fluttered as he teetered on the edge of consciousness. It occurred to him that if someone were to come into the closet right now, there would be nothing they could do. They were knotted, and it would be several minutes before they’d separate. Hux imagined an officer coming through the door and seeing him prostrate underneath Kylo Ren. He’d have to kill him, and that would mean a lot of paperwork…  
“Ren,” he whispered. He pushed on the knight experimentally. “I think you can get up now—kriff, what did you do?”   
Kylo Ren had blood streaming down his chin, making his lips even redder. He grabbed the man’s arm and turned it over. Sure enough, Ren had bitten his own forearm straight through the fabric to the flesh beneath. Blood seeped onto Hux’s unform.   
“Can’t do that again,” Ren said, more to himself than Hux, it seemed. “Too close…too much temptation.” He experimentally shifted his hips and then pulled out of Hux. Before Hux could even get on his feet, Ren was backing into the wall and shrouded in his ridiculous robes. He was breathing hard.   
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I…” Whatever he’d wanted to say died in his throat. “Come on. I’ll make sure you get back to your quarters.” Hux felt a sense of loss that he’d never experienced with a knotting mate as Ren left the room to wait for them. He thought that would be their last encounter.  
It wasn’t. They moved from stolen kisses in supply closets to tumbling through more lust-driven romps in Ren’s quarters. Hux still remembered the first time he’d let Ren stay in his quarters overnight. The knight had been dressing to leave, and he’d realized that he just didn’t want him to. The smile that lit up the boy’s face almost made losing his autonomy worth it.  
Almost.  
It was that reason that Kylo’s manhandling of him in this supply closet seemed ridiculously hysterical to Hux. They had finally come full circle. It made him laugh out loud, a rare occurrence. Kylo paused his roaming hands to look up at him, hurt. Hux wasn’t surprised. If someone was laughing, Ren assumed it was at him. He’d lost several stormtroopers to this childish fault.   
“It’s not you, Kylo.” He lifted his face for Kylo to kiss him, but he’d thrown off the mood. Ren was now staring at him, looking frustrated. Finally, he sighed and bent to rest his head on Hux’s shoulder.  
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said grudgingly. Hux experienced the wonderful realization that Ren had been trying to read his mind, but couldn’t. It made him feel generous.   
“You,” he said, brushing his lips along Kylo’s jaw. “At the beginning. In the—”  
“Closet,” Kylo said, the corners of his mouth twitching. His expression cleared. “Do you want?” He gestured to the floor. Hux caught his arm and pushed back the sleeve. A crescent shaped scar was barely visible against Ren’s white skin. He traced it.  
“You almost bit me that day, didn’t you?” Hux tried to keep his voice light and sensual, but Kylo was already stiffening in his arms.  
“Your scent was ridiculous that day,” he allowed. “But I didn’t.”  
“I’d consider giving you what you want if you’d consider what I want.” Kylo was tense in his arms now, there was no mistaking it. “Love me, Kylo, and I’ll take it off and—”  
“No. I’ve told you no.” The air around them was impossibly cold now. Kylo’s face had completely closed off.   
“Fine,” Hux spat. “Remember that there’s a difference between us.” He slid his fingers into the knight’s tunic and jerked on the stones around his neck. “This? A slave collar. This circle? Crown.” He tapped the circlet on his own head.  
“Be careful, General, that no one snatches it off your head. Your royalty comes by the way of Lady Palpatine.” Kylo bared his teeth. “Don’t expect people to bow to the bastard son of a kitchen maid. They’ll find you out.”  
Hux didn’t decide to slap him, but his hand connected with Kylo’s cheek anyway. The boy didn’t even stagger, but looked at him with ancient eyes.  
“It’s hard to be denied everything you want, isn’t it, Hux?”  
Unbeknownst to the two of them, a stormtrooper was resting outside the door.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been staring at my laptop screen for hours, working on this instead of my book, so enjoy!   
> Sorry for being MIA. I'm getting anti-worn lately. Remember when everyone used to be able to enjoy any ship they wanted?   
> May the Force be with you!

“Oh, this is stupid,” Rey said, throwing the heavy bright robes down onto the floor. “I’m not wearing this stuff.”  
“Considering you aren’t the one that’s going to be wearing it, maybe we can move along?” Vosca’s voice was dry but teasing. She’d surprised Rey by showing up that morning, no doubt for nefarious reasons, but she’d let her in anyway. That and she had a plate of those sticky buns.   
“Well, fine. What do you like?” Rey swung her arms wide in front of the room’s ridiculous wardrobe. Next to Vosca’s utilitarian dark clothes, the selection looked particularly stupid. She was starting to understand that the First Order might love minimalism and symmetry, but she was something different. A distraction, maybe. Look the part of queen, and people won’t question it.  
“Um.” Vosca studied the fabrics, running her hands over them. “This one?”  
It was black and red velvet, cut just above the ankles with long, bell-shaped sleeves. Rey tilted her head. “I guess it looks like the one you can move the best in,” she conceded.  
“Perfect,” Vosca smiled. “Help me, your highness?” With no preamble, she unsnapped her belt and slid off her jacket. In just her chest wraps and arm guards, the slight swell of her stomach was more obvious, even under the embrace of high-waisted pants. Rey blinked.  
“Yeah, of course.” She scurried around Vosca to the dress and slid it off its hanger. It was in two pieces—Rey handed the red frock to the knight. The other woman stepped through it gingerly and held the bodice around her middle. Rey unwound Vosca’s arm guards and tossed them onto the bed so that she could slide her arms into the narrow sleeves. The back was corseted. Rey was way out of her depth, but figured that it couldn’t be that difficult to work through. Vosca tossed her long braid over one shoulder to move it out of Rey’s way. She could see the circular bite scar—Kylo’s scar—there, white and bright. Her eyes lingered there for a second before she forced herself to focus on the laces.  
“You can make it a little tighter,” Vosca laughed. “I’m not going to die.” Rey shrugged and pulled harder on the laces before tying them, deciding she hadn’t done a terrible job. Vosca spun to consider herself in the mirror.  
“Oh, that’s hilarious,” she snickered. “Well, let me see my apron.”  
“Here, milady.” Rey giggled and pulled the black overskirt down onto Vosca’s shoulders. They had to settle the wide black belt a little high on her waist, but the outfit fit her well. She clapped her hands together. “Great!”  
“Your turn.” Vosca pushed past her and back into the closet again. She came back with a white two-piece monstrosity that made Rey recoil.  
“Over my dead body!”   
“Relax,” Vosca laughed. “I just wanted to see your reaction.” She lifted a set of robes, so deeply red they were almost black, that were lined with gold trim. Rey reached underneath them to find a pair of leggings and sighed with relief.   
“Much better.” Once they were both properly clothed, a service droid wheeled into the room, moving at a breakneck pace.   
“Lady Vosca, please sit.” The droid positioned itself in front of a low stool, which Vosca took cautiously. It immediately attacked her head with whirling hands, pulling her hair viciously and twisting the thick strands until two sectioned loops haloed her face. Rey thought jealously that she’d have looked stupid in the style, but Vosca looked regal.   
“Empress,” the droid chirped ominously. Rey winced and exchanged places with Vosca. To her great relief, her hair was left more or less the same, with two big buns in the back of her head. When the droid turned away, she pulled two pieces of hair from each side of her head to let them frame her face. She looked a little less hard somehow.   
“Does this look right?” Vosca looked at Rey. Her face was painted white, and her lips were stained bright red. Rey considered her a moment, trying to remember her ridiculous wedding makeup. She hadn’t looked at herself much that day; her strongest memories were of Kylo’s painted face, in his proxy role. She dipped her fingers into the pot in Vosca’s hands, and placed a dot under each of her light eyes.   
“That is the proper placement,” the droid confirmed in its emotionless voice. “I will take my leave now.”  
“Yes, thanks,” Rey said. The droid whistled away, leaving the two of them together. Rey studied Vosca again. Her elaborate hairstyle left her neck completely exposed. She couldn’t stop looking at that bonding scar, the blinding whiteness of each individual tooth mark.  
“Should we cover it?” Vosca’s face was unflinching. “I wouldn’t want to spread the shameful rumor that our new empress is an omega.”  
“Maybe. Considering the empress is something much worse.” Rey picked up the pot of white face paint and began dabbing it onto her skin. It took several layers, but the scar faded to nonexistence. She passed the jar to Vosca so she could finish up in the front.   
“Does it give you a sense of power?” Vosca met Rey’s surprised eyes in the mirror. “Being an alpha?”  
“Oh! I don’t know…I’ve never known any different? It definitely helped me on Jakku. Made me a fighter. The aggression can be a plus sometimes, particularly if you’re squabbling over a piece of scrap metal that will determine if you get to eat that day…sorry.” Rey blushed. “I’m rambling about the mundane details of my old life.”  
“It’s okay,” Vosca said, sounding sincere. “I think it’s fascinating. To think that all this time, with everyone looking, you’d always been there…it’s a miracle akin to Leader Snoke finding Master Ren.” She shrugged. “Lord Vader’s and Darth Sidious’s heirs, walking among us.” She drew a strange symbol on the table in the white face paint, a jagged edged starburst.  
“And you,” Rey said. “A Force user and carrying the next heir!”  
“My son is not an heir.”   
“What?”   
Vosca smiled pityingly at Rey. “Any child you have with the Emperor will be an heir. My son will be just that—my son.”  
Rey shook her head. “But…but the child of Kylo Ren would be—”  
“Just that,” Vosca said again. “Just his child. He chose a different path than he royal ancestors.” Her hands slid to her stomach. “But his baby is strong with the Force. How could he not be?”  
“Do you love him?” The words escaped before she could restrain herself. Vosca raised her eyebrows.  
“No.” She got off the stool and grabbed Rey’s hands. Her grip was firm. “Hear me, Empress. Kylo Ren is not made for loving. Whatever you think you see in him, let it go. I know you’ve felt the darkness there.” She slid the band off Rey’s finger and onto her own. “The emperor will give you the galaxy if you’d let him.”  
“I don’t…I didn’t…” Rey blinked hard, confused by the assault of emotion she felt. Finally, she settled on the easiest feeling. Annoyance. “I don’t know Hux.”  
“But you feel that you know Kylo.” She shook her head. “You alphas like to squabble, and you think that means attraction.” She released Rey’s hand and looped her arm around her waist in front of the mirror. “You’re lonely. I can be a much better companion than him.”  
“A friend,” Rey said. The mirror showed two girls, within an inch of each other’s heights with the help of the heels on Rey’s boots. One was dressed like royalty, the white face paint obscuring her strong features. The other work a dark hood that matched her robes, with a blaster holstered to her side. The empress and her handmaiden. No one would suspect that the Empress was her knight in disguise.   
“Perfect,” Vosca said. She’d gotten the idea after studying some Naboo history books that Kylo had accumulated. They were going to be traveling to another planet, or so she’d been tipped off. All the better that they have a decoy. Rey had agreed.   
Vosca excused herself to finish getting ready, leaving Rey to comb through her muddled thoughts. She glanced at the bed that Hux had only shared with her on that first night. Thought about how Kylo’s scent clung to every inch of his body. What type of selfishness inspired someone to take and take and never give? Her thoughts strayed towards that night in the bath with Hux…  
“My empress.” A stormtrooper was standing in the doorway, breathing heavily. Rey jumped. “I’m sorry.” The trooper shut the door behind him and removed his helmet.  
“FN-2187! You scared me!” Rey jumped up and bopped his armor. “What’s wrong?”  
The trooper’s normally cheerful face was grave. “I told you I’d keep my eyes open for you.”   
“Yes.” Rey felt a sense of trepidation. The soldier leaned in and whispered about what he’d seen on the landing platform and heard outside of the closet. About the emperor’s plea to Lord Ren, and their resulting fight. And something, something about a collar.   
Rey squeezed FN-2187’s wrist. “Thank you. I’ll see you on the landing dock.”   
It didn’t take long to get to the landing platform. Rey knew she was being reckless, but she had a score to settle before they started their journey. Hux was leaning against the railing, looking out at Mustafar. She strode up next to him and looked out as well.  
“Lady Palpatine.” Hux’s voice was distant. She could smell Ren all over him.  
“Rey.” Her tone made him look up. “Your empress.” One of her husband’s eyebrows hitched up, his green eyes darkening.   
“Rey,” he agreed. He inspected her clothing. “You’re taking Lady Vosca’s advice on the decoy then?”  
“Yes, I am.” She leaned in, so close she could have kissed him. Instead, she brought her lips to his neck and drug her teeth along the edge. He froze.  
“If I hear that you have asked Lord Ren to bond you again, I will do it myself. Don’t be stupid enough to think he wouldn’t take advantage of you.”  
Hux didn’t flinch. “I think you could tell me all about how he takes advantage of people.” He bowed his head, hands at parade rest behind his back. “I didn’t think you were also one of those people.”  
She felt her scalp tighten with shame that spread from the top of her head to her roiling stomach. She had never intended to be one of these bloodthirsty, power hungry alphas.   
“I’m sorry,” she said, and meant it. She moved away from his neck, feeling monstrous. He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips. Again, she felt that uncomfortable mix of attraction and distaste that he inspired in her.  
“You’re a warrior queen. I’m sorry that I didn’t recognize that before.” Hux studied her again, his face cast reddish by the lava below. He was still holding her hand. “I’ve neglected you.”  
“I’m used to it.” She lifted her chin in challenge.   
“You shouldn’t be.” Hux pulled her closer to him. His hand was resting in the small of her back. It felt good, and comforting. Something like little girls might imagine for their wedding days. Rey tilted her head.  
This kiss wasn’t like the perfunctory one she’d received when they’d been presented to each other, or the lust fueled battle from the night in the bath. It even surpassed the lingering kiss he’d given to her in the kitchen. It was delicate and lovely and stirred something inside her that she hadn’t felt before, a gentle fluttering in her stomach. Hux kept the hand on her back and used the other to gently caress her face, one finger wrapped around the loose pieces she’d let down. And of course, the sweet taste of omega graced her lips.  
When they finally broke apart, Hux was looking at her, stunned. She smiled, reached for his face, and kissed him again. He wrapped both arms around her this time, and held her close to him. She moved her hands from his face to his hair, catching the thin crown as it slid off. He stopped her as she tried to put it back.  
“Keep it. It should be yours.” He pressed it into her hands.  
“I can’t. And that’s silly.” She felt flustered. “It’s yours. I’m undercover remember?”  
Hux took the crown and tapped something inside the circlet. It shrank to the size of a bracelet, the leaves and thorns creating a jagged pattern around the edge.   
“And now it’s yours.” He slid it around her wrist and kissed her hand again. “I think our ship will be here soon. Better find Lady Vosca.” He smiled at her curiously and gestured towards the castle.   
When she entered her room for the last time, she slid the bracelet off and left it on the dresser that she and Vosca had used earlier. Minutes later, as Vosca was hustling her out the door, she remembered the bracelet and doubled back. To her relief, it was exactly where she’d left it, but this time there was something else. A note had been slid under the cuff, scrawled in an elaborate script.  
 _Don’t wear anything he gives you. Anything._  
Rey looked around the room, suspicious. Very few people had access to this suite. Still, with the move and so many people around…  
She slipped the bracelet into her pocket.


	16. Chapter 16

“What is this place?” Rey shuddered and pulled her hood around her face. She was quite sure her ears were going to fall off. Snow blew around them, settling into drifts of white off the landing dock. An armed guard bowed his head to Hux and punched a code into the doors. As her decoy, Vosca stepped through the doors first, her hand resting in Hux’s. If Rey hadn’t been so cold, she would have taken the time to appreciate that both Hux and Kylo looked pissed off about this.  
“What.are.you.doing?” Kylo growled each word through gritted teeth, his ridiculous helmet accentuating the pause between each word. Every few seconds, his head would swivel back and forth. Rey couldn’t tell what he was afraid of, but something had him on edge. The corridor they had entered was just as cold as outside, although thankfully out of the wind. Her teeth chattered.  
“I s-s-said, what a-are w-we doing here?” Her jaw crashed painfully together on the last word. The knight turned his helmet towards her.  
“Oh, kriff—Hux, you didn’t outfit her with a thermal regulator?”  
Hux glared at Vosca. “I didn’t dress her.”  
Vosca smiled icily through her white face paint. “I’m sorry, dear husband. Guess that’s yet another thing you didn’t think of.”  
Hux rounded on her, then froze when he realized their escort was watching them apprehensively. No doubt he’d carry back word to the board that their new emperor was squabbling with his entourage in hallways.  
“Deal with it, Lord Ren,” he said curtly, turning back to the escort. Vosca shrugged and followed him.  
With an unmistakably annoyed sigh, Kylo hit the release on his helmet and pulled it off. He dropped it to the floor without ceremony. Pieces of his hair stuck to his damp forehead.  
“I-if you’re seriously s-sweating under there, I m-might consider getting one, as s-s-stupid as it may look.”   
Kylo rolled his eyes at her and yanked one of his gloves off with his teeth. With a small effort, he managed to pry something off the inner side of his wrist. A tiny droplet of red blood appeared.  
“Look over there, Lady Palpatine.” She glanced over her shoulder in the direction he was pointing and he grabbed her wrist.  
“Ouch!” Pain shot through her forearm, and Rey reacted instinctively. The Force came to her like a loyal friend and pushed Kylo backwards several steps.  
“That hurt!”  
“I tried to make it better, you colossal pain.” He turned her hand over and pressed the small chip he’d just injected into her skin. Warmth spread through her entire body.  
“Ahhhh.”  
“Oh, and desert rat?” Kylo picked up his helmet and tucked it under his arm. “You don’t know the meaning of hurt.”  
Now that she was warm, she was ready to fight. “Yes, I’m sure your life has been very hard, what with the castle and secret lover and ships that cost more than the annual gross of twelve of my home planet.” The chased after Ren, who’d already started down the corridor.  
“Do you always go around with that chip on your shoulder?” Kylo’s voice was light but his eyes were malicious. “It must be very hard to feel that sorry for yourself every day.”  
“I figured if you could do it, I could do it too,” she snarked, a beat too late. The knight turned around, some of the rage he tried to hide breaking free. Just as he put his finger in Rey’s face, a group of people rounded the end of the corridor.  
Well, people was stretching it. At the center of the group, an absolutely enormous Hutt slid along, mumbling to the strangely avian creature that coasted along beside it. Kylo immediately lowered his finger and growled—or maybe groaned—deep in his throat.  
One of the Hutt’s human companions, an older human male, caught sight of them and called out.  
“Lord Ren! Long time, no see. Did you come to visit the little people?” As the man got closer, Rey could see the blue outline of a tattoo peeking out of his collar. It appeared to go all the way around his neck.   
“Stelham,” Kylo said drily. The Hutt, apparently not at all pleased with being referred to as a “little people” muttered something in the ear of his other companion, a tall humanoid woman. Her red lips peeled back to reveal her sharp teeth as she smiled.  
Rey crossed her arms, watching Kylo turn to acknowledge the Hutt.  
“Qetjar Khaerd.”  
The Hutt’s roan eyes flitted over Rey. Apparently deciding something about her, he returned his attention to Kylo.  
“Will you be delivering on what you promised?” He said this in Huttese and shoed his female companion away. The avian remained, stoic as a piece of the wall.  
“Leader Snoke has already delivered. Check your accounts.” Kylo answered all of this in fluent Huttese, never once stumbling over the garbled language. It sounded strange coming from his smooth, regal voice.  
Qetjar glanced at the avian. The creature took his datapad from his pocket and tapped a few buttons. He nodded and Qetjar looked appeased.  
“Snoke has never let us down before. However, with the new Emperor, we thought we might see a bit of a…decrease in funds.”  
“That’s for the ships.” Kylo raised his eyebrows. Something keen and shrewd took over the Hutt’s expression.  
“You want your pick before the Cardinal, then?”  
“If you would be so kind. Like last time.” Kylo’s fingers twitched. Rey doubted anyone else noticed. She also could safely assume that both Ren and Qetjar thought she couldn’t understand Huttese.  
Wrong.  
There was a loud, long sniff from behind them. Rey turned around, bristling. Stelham, the man with the tattoo, was smiling lecherously.   
“My apologies, my Lord. I thought you had another pet, but I see now I was mistaken.” Rey growled, and his smile turned cold.  
Qetjar told Stelham to do something to himself that would have caused a brawl on Jakku, then turned to Kylo apologetically. Credits, it seemed, would pull manners out of the lowest creatures.  
“This way, Lord Ren.” Kylo made a small gesture to follow him, and the Hutt lead them towards a set of doors. The place was a labyrinth, all freezing durasteel. She took a minute to be immensely grateful for her thermal regulator and wondered if the cold was cutting into Kylo’s long robes.  
The avian pressed his hand against an access panel and the doors melted away. Rey braced herself for monsters, weapons, mutated soldiers and got—  
Kids.  
The giant room was full of children. It had been loud a second before, but their entrance had caused an echoing silence. Most of them were filthy, dressed in clothing that did not fit their current climate. Some of the children coward behind blankets and ragged stuffed toys. Others glared at her with challenging eyes. One boy went so far as to lift his fingers, mimicking a blaster and mouth “pew” at them.  
“We’ll be outside,” the avian spoke in Basic with a reedy voice. “Mr. Khaerd doesn’t like being around them.”  
“No, I’m sure he doesn’t,” Kylo murmured. The door slid shut and Rey rounded on him.  
“What is this?”  
“This is where the First Order gets their army.” Rey looked around at the grimy faces staring up at them.  
“You’re joking. You take children?”  
“Stop yelling, you’re scaring them,” Kylo lowered his voice. “Would you prefer we leave them here? With the Order, they’re fed and taken care of. Trained to have usable skills.”  
“Because they have no other choice!”  
“You don’t seem to have a problem using stormtroopers.”  
She was indignant. “Adults!”  
“And where do you think they came from?” Rey frowned at looked around at the tiny people.   
“How old are they?”   
For some reason, Kylo grimaced. “Between five and fifteen, usually.”  
She let out a breath. “Kriff.”  
“I need you to reach out. Tell me, do you sense anything?”  
“Sense…?”  
“Are any of them Force sensitive? You have to tell me.”  
“Why can’t you—“  
“Rey, please. Do you sense it?”  
She was aggravated, but curious. How many more people were like the two of them? Rey took a deep breath and reached out.   
So much life. Fear. Grief. She walked slowly through the crowd. And something else…she jerked her chin toward a corner of small girls. Most of them scattered as Kylo approached, but one remained. To Rey’s shock, he squatted down in front of the child.  
“Do you speak Basic?”  
The girl regarded him with suspicion, but nodded.  
“My name is Kylo Ren.” The girl’s eyebrows rose slightly. “What’s yours?”  
“Isakend.” Nothing else. Rey smirked. The kid was making him work for it.  
“How old are you, Isakend?”  
“How old are you?” It was challenge, and Kylo took it.  
“Twenty-nine.” Rey tucked that information away for later. The girl—Isakend—studied the end of her braid, like Kylo wasn’t worth her focus.  
“I’m eight,” she whispered grudgingly. Her eyes went to the lightsaber hilt clipped to Kylo’s belt. “Are you a Jedi?”  
There was an imperceptible shift in Ren’s face. “No. But I was trained by one.” He smiled at Isakend like she was in on the secret. “I wasn’t very well behaved, but I can teach you.”  
“Are you a bad guy?” The little girl’s eyes flicked towards the door, and Rey wondered what the villains in her life looked like.  
“Not like them,” Kylo said firmly. Isakend studied him and chewed on the end of her braid. The girl wasn’t stupid, Rey had to give her that.  
“Bad guys don’t get hurt,” she said.   
“Not usually,” Kylo said. He looked intrigued. “Isakend, if you come with me and my friend Rey, you can stay with us.” He whispered something in her ear that Rey couldn’t hear.  
Isakend looked at Rey with unflattering disbelief. “You’re a queen?”  
Rey shot Kylo a look and he shrugged. “I’m as surprised as you are.”  
“So if I go with you, I can stay with you?” She was cutting a deal like someone who had been cheated too many times. Rey was familiar with that life.  
“Yes,” Kylo said, nodding. “I travel a lot, but you’ll be with us. Rey is even tolerable after a few months. Until then, you can just ignore her like I do.”  
Isakend giggled as Rey aimed a kick at Kylo’s back. She nodded.  
“Good girl.” Kylo held out his arms and the girl allowed him to pick her up and rest her on his hip. “Are these your things?” There was a small rumpled ball of fabric on the bed. Isakend nodded. “Rey, get that please.”  
“Of course, my lord.” Her sarcasm went unnoticed and she shoved the few items into Kylo’s stupid helmet, which she’d somehow ended up carrying.   
“Is there anyone else?” Kylo looked over his free shoulder, since Isakend was resting her chin on the other one.   
“One more. But I can’t…” Her gaze fell on the older boy who had mimed shooting them when they came in. The boy glowered. “Him.”  
“Ah.” Kylo appraised the boy, completely unaffected by his murderous expression. “Partially Zabrak,” he asked by way of greeting.  
The boy studied him and nodded. “What do you have for me?”  
“Do you want to get out of here? Food? Flying? Any of that appeal to you?”  
The boy scowled. It was clear he didn’t want to appear too eager.   
“I want to fight.”   
Rey smiled. “We can help with that.”   
********************************************************************************************  
By the time they had finished with the Hutt and his lackey—  
“Thank you for your business, Lord Ren.”  
\--Rey had coaxed out the Zabrak boy’s name and age, mostly with a very persistent game of twenty questions. His name was Drokur, and he was almost fourteen, but he wasn’t sure if his nameday had passed or not.  
“Where’s the Zabrak blood from?”  
“My father’s mother,” Drokur said shortly, and that was the end of that conversation. Ahead of them, Isakend was chattering in Kylo’s ear.  
“…and I can lift things, but only by accident, I’ve never done it on purpose, but I heard that the Jedi could, and I thought…” She continued on this subject for quite some time. Rey hadn’t been aware that Kylo could handle this much noise in a given day. He still hadn’t put the girl down once.  
Kylo led them into a set of rooms only slightly warmer than the corridors. Hux looked up from the datapad in his hands.  
“Where have you bee—oh. Picking up strays.” He put the datapad down in the seat behind him and stood. “Nice to meet you, Miss…”  
“Isakend,” the girl whispered. She look incredibly shy.  
“Isa,” Kylo clarified. “Isa, this is Emperor Hux. I work with him.” Isa’s strangely grey eyes grew as big as saucers.   
Hux looked her over and tsked at a sleeping service droid. “Get me some new clothes for this one and…you are?” There was something uncomfortably wild about Drokur, and Rey could see that Hux didn’t care for it.  
“Drokur,” she answered for him. “He’s almost fourteen.”  
“That’s as old as we’ll take a boy for the younger academy,” Hux said. “Good we got you now.”  
“Good thing he’s not going to the academy,” Kylo said in an offhand way. He set Isa back on the ground. “I think we have some things to discuss, my Emperor.”  
*************************************************************************************************************  
“I’m not even going to get into the kids,” Hux said when they entered his private chamber together, leaving the children with Rey. “What did you do with the last one?”  
Kylo frowned. That was unfair. “He’s with...” Kriff. Who did he assign that kid to?  
“With one of your knights, right. What was wrong with him?”  
“Nothing was wrong with him, it was just that he was older and—“  
“Not as strong as you wanted.”   
“Yes.” Kylo threw himself into one of the room’s hard chairs. “He had talent, but he could learn from someone else. So I left him with the others. These two, they’re stronger.”  
“Great. So when Cardinal complains that you’ve picked over his new charges, I’ll tell him, sorry, Lord Ren wanted these because they were stronger.”  
“You’ll tell him that you took them because you outrank the insufferable man.”  
“Has Cardinal been bothering you?” Hux looked amused at the thought. “And here I thought he only irritated Phasma.”  
“Maybe he’s got a special talent for it,” Kylo said. His head was starting to hurt, whether from this day or the collar being on too long he couldn’t tell.   
“You’re quite right there. He’s much too lenient with his charges.” Hux produced a deathstick. Kylo glared at him as he lit it.  
“It’s always very interesting to me, Emperor, that you feel this way about Cardinal. Don’t you harbor any love for the man who loved your father?”   
“That would be a good theory if I held any love at all for my father.” Hux tapped a button on the intercom between them, ensuring that it was off.   
“Yet you kept his name,” Kylo said. As a young man, he’d been far too eager to shed his family name. Property of Han Solo. He could still see it, stamped on everything that lay within the damned Falcon. One day he would bring it out of the sky.  
“Of course I kept his name,” Hux said with irritation. “My father was a well-respected Imperial officer and the reason why we were sought out by Gallius Rax.”  
Kylo felt the world move underneath him, and this time he could not blame it on the Force.  
“What did you just say?”  
“Rax, Gallius Rax. A visionary, in some circles, killed by Admiral Rae Sloane—why do you ask?” Hux ended his question on this sharp note, looking suspicious.   
My name is Sloane. Galli said you would come. Kylo cleared his throat, pushing away his…Rey’s memory.  
“Nothing, nothing. I feel like I’ve read the name somewhere…”  
“No doubt you have, the way you dig through old records.” Hux walked around the table and Kylo caught his robes, wrapping his wide hands around his narrow hips.  
“Mmhmm,” he agreed, pressing his head against Hux’s chest.  
“Don’t touch me,” Hux slapped his hands away.  
“What’s wrong with you? Is it the kids? You and your academy don’t need them all, and they’ll keep her busy—”  
“I really don’t care about the children, except that they’ll slow our progress down, and you’ll no doubt dump them somewhere eventually.” Hux stepped away from Kylo, and he didn’t understand why. “Are you afraid your heir won’t be enough? I was certain that after the fathers we had, you wouldn’t be interested in parenthood, but here we are doing the same thing.”  
Kylo laughed. “I’m no one’s father…yet. And these children are for—”  
“Me.” The voice made the two of them jump and look around. The comm had clicked on, and the glowing hologram of his master now glowered down at the both of them. Kylo immediately dropped to one knee. He felt, rather than saw, Hux roll his eyes.  
“Supreme Leader. I didn’t hear your request to connect.”  
“I know you didn’t, you idiot. Luckily, I do not rely on your prowess to do anything.” Hux’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed heavily, accepting the insult.  
“Get up, Kylo, I don’t have time for you to grovel today.” His face smarted as he returned to his feet and sat back in the chair. Hux rested his hand on the back of it, his fingers just barely stroking the back of his neck. He might have been angry with Kylo, but this small display of comfort—or warning—was appreciated all the same.  
“You have finished on Vandor, I assume?” Snoke was pacing in his chambers, and Kylo followed the progress of his halting gait across the holo stream.  
“Yes, Supreme Leader. Ambassador meetings, new ships on their way, and everything else moving as scheduled. They will have another dreadnought ready for us in a month’s time.”  
“Finally, some good news.” Snoke ran a hand over his face. “Kylo Ren, you will pay the ambassador a visit before you return to me in the morning. I’ve received intelligence that he’s been entertaining offers from the resistance.”  
“Yes, master.”   
“Certainly that will encourage their progress,” Snoke said with a nasty smile. “Anyway…these new younglings…”  
“Chosen by the girl, master. I think these will serve to strengthen our numbers.”  
“Hmm.” Snoke looked over their heads at something Kylo couldn’t see. “How far from trial age?”  
“Ten years for the girl, four for the boy. Maybe less. I’ve not had time with them.”  
The pressure of Hux’s fingers increased on his neck.  
“Very well. I’ll have you both back to me very soon, but there is more to be done before then. I trust that you can handle it with your current squad?”  
“Of course, Supreme Leader.” Hux spoke with a finality, or maybe resignation. Kylo couldn’t tell. He was too tense with fear, terror that Snoke would bring up his very obvious absence from the Force.  
“Don’t disappoint me.” Snoke’s holo flickered out and Hux’s fingers left Kylo’s neck.  
“Hux,” he began, trying to use some patience his mother swore he’d been born without. “I need you to take this off. Please.” He clenched his fists.  
“Kylo I…”  
“You have to. I need it off to do my job. I’m trying to guard you and every other damn person here!” There was blood in his mouth. He’d bitten his tongue.  
“I don’t have the key,” Hux muttered. He looked away from Kylo when he said it.  
“What?” He had to be joking. This wasn’t happening.  
Hux looked frightened. “I’m sorry, it’s gone. I lost the key. I had when we left Mustafar…or right before. I don’t know—Kylo!”  
He broke off as Kylo slammed him against the wall, his gloved fingers biting into his upper arms.   
“Do you know what you’ve done?”  
“Kylo, I didn’t—”  
Kylo shook him. “It will take a terrible power, a sacrifice to get this off. So rest easy about the children. We’ll only be leaving with one.”  
“I—I didn’t know…”  
“You do now.” Kylo was quiet and resigned. Without a goodbye, he left Hux in the freezing room.  
*********************************************************************************************************  
“She looks like a queen,” Drokur said, pointing at Vosca. He and Isa were sitting on the narrow bed in the room, watching as the knight worked her long hair out of the elaborate Naboo style the service droid had perfected.   
Vosca met their eyes in the mirror. “Not for long, kid. Watch and learn.” With her sleeve, she began to wipe off long streaks of white makeup.   
“And anyway, I’m not a queen,” Rey said, sitting crosslegged next to them. “I’m the empress. She is my protector.”  
“Like a decoy,” Drokur said smartly. “You don’t look much alike.”  
“I’m not very well known, believe it or not.” Rey was trying to hide it, but she was absolutely thrilled by the presence of children. She wondered if Kylo meant it when he said they were keeping them. Nervous, she put her hand in her pocket and turned over the heavy key she’d palmed from her husband on Mustafar.  
She dropped it back into the deep pocket of her robe when the door slid open. Isa jumped off the bed to wrap her arms around Kylo’s leg. She’d been quiet since he’d left them, and it was clear who she preferred. He absentmindedly dropped a gloved hand to the top of her head, looking pained.  
“Vosca, I need your help with something,” he said, not making eye contact. The knight immediately stood and nodded, her face concerned.   
“Lady Rey, the Emperor wanted me to invite you to meet with him.” He voice was cool and detached, like they had barely met, let alone…what? Rey couldn’t decide how she felt about the brooding man who scowled viciously and murdered and then swept little children away from starvation.  
“Right. I’ll go to him.” She glanced back at Drokur uncertainly.   
“We’ll take care of them,” Kylo said with undue sharpness.   
It rankled, and then it grew into something else. Jealousy, maybe. Rey wanted nothing more than to stay in the room and play another round of twenty questions with the kids with they questioned her queenship. Whatever the cause, it made her insides lock up with something acidic. She pressed past Isa and Kylo.  
“Rey?” Hux was barefoot, looking more disheveled than she’d ever seen him. “What’s wrong?”  
She didn’t know what to say, or how to begin to explain it. She lifted her arms and let them fall to her side with a slap.   
“I’m…cold.”   
Hux smiled at her quizzically. “That’s nothing to be upset about.” His eyes narrowed. “Ren did give you a regulator chip, right?” She nodded. “Come here.” He turned back the covers and slid into the narrow bed.  
Suspicion. Around Hux, she couldn’t let go of it. It must have shown on her face, because he sighed.  
“Please?” Rey gingerly got into the bed, yelping as the cold sheets hit her bare feet. Hux chuckled.  
“You’re going to wear all your clothes to sleep?” He wasn’t being lewd, just genuinely curious. It seemed like she was always confusing him, and it made her like him a little bit more.   
“Desert rat, remember? I’ve been frozen since we got here.” She pulled the blankets up to her nose with a balled fist.  
“You’re not a desert rat,” Hux said, so quietly she almost missed it.  
“Kylo said you wanted to see me. Was there any purpose in this besides body heat?” She had her back to him. He shifted beside her.  
“No, not really. I wanted to continue our conversation from the landing dock.” Hux wrapped his arms around her from behind. Rey cocked an eyebrow and then relaxed into him. Sure enough, that sweet omega scent drifted over them. She thought lazily that she should get close to him like this more often.   
“You smell so good,” she murmured. He was warm too, and her body, craving both things, pressed against his.  
“Great. Maybe my father will hear that from wherever he’s at now and he’ll rest peacefully. His son may have been an omega, but he smelled good.” Hux laughed bitterly. Rey rolled over to look at him, squinting in the dark.  
“You hated your father?”  
“My father was a great man, not a good one.” Hux frowned. She could see the stubble just starting to appear on his face.   
“He kept you, though.” She tried to keep her voice even.  
Her husband laughed. “Because he was told to. Children are an important part of building…”  
“An empire?” Rey turned this over in her head, thinking about the room full of children. “Isn’t there a better way? You had a father. Those kids you take…”  
“They’ll have a father. You’ll meet Cardinal soon enough.”  
“Cardinal?”  
“He trains our young ones. Tough, but a better father than most people get.” Hux dragged his fingers up and down her spine.   
“That’s something.” She pushed herself up onto one elbow. “I want more control here.”  
Hux pushed her hair out of her face and led it over one shoulder.   
“I think you know it’s not me that you need to appeal to.” It was hard to tell in the dark, but he looked intrigued.  
“Snoke.” She said his name flatly. “Who doesn’t think me worth his notice.”  
“That is untrue.” Hux’s eyes were bright, like a bantha cat’s. “The Supreme Leader is fascinated by you.” His voice dropped an octave lower. “So am I.”  
“You shouldn’t breathe in so deeply, omega.” Hux snorted at her faux warning and laid his cheek on her hair. She smiled. His hands drifted down her back. Rey turned her head up to put her lips on his throat.  
“I received your warning, Empress. Forgive me for not taking it.” Hux rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. She ground herself against him, enjoying the feel of his length while she kissed her way closer to that sensitive place on his neck. Her mouth watered. Omega.  
“Still cold?” Hux seemed to be smiling. Rey shrugged out of her heavy robe, and Hux pulled it off her arms gently. He flipped them to the side and they hit the wall.  
Plink.  
“Kriff. Did you have your comm in your pocket?” He dug blindly in the pockets of her robe and produced to the key. Rey stiffened.   
Hux stared at it for several long seconds, apparently lost for words. It stretched on into silences so complete that Rey thought they were going to drown in it.  
“Hux?”  
“Take this to Kylo. Get it to him now.”  
“Hux…what?”  
“Never mind,” Hux hissed. He was up and robed before she could comprehend what was happening. “Stay here, and for once, try not to touch anything that’s not yours.” He sprinted for the door, leaving her wrapped in the sheets.  
What had she done?  
*******************************************************************************************  
Vosca stopped him at the door.  
“My emperor—”  
“Get the hell out of my way, Vosca, I’ll kill you right now.” Hux had his blaster drawn. “Where is he?”  
“I think you know full well where he is, sire.” Her words were full of unspoken disdain. “This is all thanks to you.”  
“Have it your way.” Hux stunned her, aiming away from her stomach. It was a shame…he could have been rid of the both of them right there. Something told him that Snoke would be displeased. She crumpled to the floor.   
“Kylo!” He pushed through to the bedroom. Ren was kneeling on the floor, his hand on the forehead of the Zabrak boy. There was a strange energy in the room that made Hux uncomfortable.   
“Did you come to gloat?”   
“I found the key.” Kylo slowly turned to look at him, his face haggard. “Kriff, Ren, what have you done?” He dropped to his knees and slid the key into the lock on the collar. It released. Kylo caught it as it fell.   
“Ugh.” The knight’s head dropped to his chest. When he raised it, something was wrong. Hux took an uncertain step back.   
“Kylo?”  
“What did you do to Vosca?” Ren’s voice was very low.  
“I…I stunned her, Kylo. I thought you wanted…to save the boy.” He glanced nervously at the boy’s still body.   
“You stunned my pregnant mate?” His lover’s voice was getting stronger by the minute, like the Force was pouring back into him.   
“Rey had the key.” He wasn’t sure why he was selling her out, only that he couldn’t bear to be the only focus of Ren’s anger.  
“She didn’t know.” Kylo stood and Hux appreciated just how big he was, filling up the space. There was a yellow tint to his brown eyes he’d never noticed before.  
“No, she didn’t know.” Hux dithered. “I can send someone to check on Vosca.”  
“No need.” Kylo pushed Hux roughly out of the way to the antechamber. Vosca was curled on the floor, breathing steadily. He watched quietly as Kylo picked the woman up like she weighed nothing and carried her back to the bed. Her eyelids fluttered.  
“Master?”  
“You’re fine,” Kylo said shortly. “He’s fine.” Hand on her stomach and fiery eyes. “Sleep.” He pressed his fingers to her temple and the woman’s eyes slid shut again.  
Hux tensed. “I had to make her move so I could stop you…did I stop you?”  
“Partially. I don’t know what the effect will be on him.” Kylo went back to the bedroom and crouched beside the boy. Hux flinched as he watched Ren turn Drokur’s face towards the light. A long, spidery scar snaked down his face. “A few more minutes and he would have died.”  
“But he is alive,” Hux stressed.  
“Mmm.” He touched the boy’s temple like had Vosca’s. “We’ll see.”  
The pull on his consciousness must have worked, because the boy pushed himself to a sitting position. He blinked at Kylo, as if trying to decide on his reality.  
“Did it work?” The boy’s question stunned Hux. Had he really agreed to this?  
“Yes.” Kylo didn’t mention the key or Rey. “It left a mark, but you’ll be fine.”  
Drokur brought a hand to his chest. “It feels…bad. Like anger. Only…”  
“Stronger.” Kylo’s eyes were fathomless. The boy nodded.  
“Stronger.” There was a flash of those pointy white teeth.  
Kylo stood and held out a hand. “Come with me…Revan.”   
This was no longer the jumpy boy that Kylo had introduced to him hours before. There was something frighteningly angry about the boy now. He took Kylo’s hand with a burning intensity that hadn’t been there before. What madness had Ren pulled out with his ancient religion?  
“You should attend to your wife, Emperor.” Kylo bent to say mutter something in the boy’s ear. He nodded and moved to the next room, smiling maliciously at Hux.  
“Kylo, what have you done?” Hux raised his gaze unwillingly to Ren’s big eyes. He wasn’t imagining it, no, they really were yellow.   
The knight snapped his teeth like a feral dog. “Get out of my sight, omega.”  
Hux bristled. “I helped you.”  
“Ah yes.” Ren closed the space between them in two huge strides and shoved something heavy and cold into his hands. It was the collar, complete with key.  
“Take it. No doubt you’ll soon try to wrap it around the neck of your pretty wife.” Kylo sniffed at Hux’s neck and he almost shuddered. “And be sure that I’ll be training her so that she can defend herself if the time comes. Not everyone will be as…taken with you as I am.”  
“Kylo, let me—”  
A light fixture swayed dangerously overhead. “Stars, Hux. Just go!”  
He did go, and after he was quite sure no one would hear him, broke into a run. Rey was sitting up in bed, waiting for him.  
“What happened?”  
Hux looked at her, hair loose and eyes wide, freckles dusting the tops of her exposed shoulders. He thought of the darkness of Kylo’s rooms and the boy’s insidious presence. The desire to not mar her goodness with these dark images was overwhelming. Without answering, he shrugged out of his robe and climbed into bed beside her.  
“Hux?”  
“It’s fixed now. I just...it’s been a long day. Are you going to stay here?”  
There was a long pause.  
“I want you to.”  
She breathed in deeply, most likely taking in his scent again. Her hands were small and soft on his arms, not at all like Kylo’s all-encompassing grip.  
“I’ll stay,” she said quietly.   
************************************************************************  
Something had happened. The strange bond between her and Kylo Ren had come rushing back that evening, and the howl of fear and rage it sent to her had nearly knocked her unconscious. This was Hux’s doing, she was sure of it. Something terrible had happened, and it all revolved around that stone key. Tentatively, she reached out to Kylo through the bond, attempting to send her concern over the connection.  
It closed like a vise.


End file.
